Canada 8 - Germany 1

IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship
Exhibition
Monday, April 10, 2006
16:00 (local)
Kungsbacka, SWE

CANADA BEATS GERMANY 8-1 IN PRE-U18 GAME

KUNGSBACKA, SWEDEN – On the strength of a hat trick from Ben Maxwell and three shorthanded goals in the second period, Canada’s 2006 Under 18 World Championship team beat Germany 8-1 on Monday in its final tune up game prior to Wednesday’s start of the IIHF Under-18 World Championship.

Ben Maxwell (North Vancouver, BC – Kootenay, WHL) scored three goals on the night, while Jamie McGinn (Fergus, ON – Ottawa, OHL) scored two goals to pace Canada over Germany.

Canada held a 1-0 lead after one period of play, when McGinn scored his first of two goals on the night.  But it was the second period of play where Canada showed its offensive strength and didn’t look back.

Just three seconds into the second period, Canadian forward Justin Azevedo was called for a 5 minute penalty off of the opening faceoff.  Germany used the power play to their advantage, scoring to tie the game at 1-1.  Canada then scored two shorthanded goals in a span of 27 seconds. Brandon Sutter (Red Deer, AB – Red Deer, WHL) was strong on the forcheck on the Germany goalie, and forced him to mishandle the puck, then skated around the net and wrapped the puck into the empty goal at 3:21.  Canada’s Maxwell grabbed a loose puck in the offensive zone, out skated the German defenseman and went in all alone to score and give Canada a 3-1 lead.

Francois Bouchard (Sherbrooke, QC – Baie-Comeau, QMJHL) and Maxwell exchanged goals in the second period, and McGinn scored Canada’s third shorthanded goal of the game at 16:14 to give Canada a 6-1 lead after two periods of play.

Ryan McDonough (Toronto, ON – Saginaw, OHL) and Maxwell closed out the scoring for Canada in the third period, to give the team a 8-1 win.

Kris Lazaruk played in goal for Canada making 32 saves, while Timo Pielmeier and Sebastian Staudt split the goaltending duties for Germany.

Canada will travel back to Tyringe tonight, about a 2 1/2 hour bus ride, then travel to Halmstad on Tuesday, the site of Canada’s preliminary games.  Canada will open the World Under Championship on Wednesday versus Slovakia.