GAME STATS: Canada 16, Germany 2
EDMONTON, Alta. – Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, Y.T./Lethbridge, WHL) led the
way with a hat trick and three assists, Dawson Mercer (Bay Roberts,
N.L./Chicoutimi, LHJMQ) added two goals and two helpers, and Canada’s
National Junior Team flexed its offensive muscle in a 16-2 win over Germany
to open its 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship on Saturday night.
The Canadians got goals from 10 different players and points from 17 of
their 20 skaters as they racked up their biggest goal total since blanking
Latvia 16-0 on Boxing Day 2009.
“I do not know if I have been in such a high-scoring game,” said Canadian
head coach André Tourigny (Nicolet, Que./Ottawa, OHL). “I give a lot of
credit to the Germans, they were in a tough situation with [nine players
still quarantined due to COVID-19] and two games in 24 hours against two
tough countries. They fought hard; in the first period, we got lucky on a
couple of goals and if you take those two goals away, they had a pretty
good first period. Credit to them, they fought hard.”
Among multi-point scorers, Peyton Krebs (Okotoks, Alta./Winnipeg, WHL),
Philip Tomasino (Mississauga, Ont./Oshawa, OHL) and Alex Newhook (St.
John’s, N.L./Boston College, HE) finished with two goals and an assist
each, Connor McMichael (Ajax, Ont./London, OHL) had a goal and two assists,
Cole Perfetti (Whitby, Ont./Saginaw, OHL) recorded three assists and Justin
Barron (Halifax, N.S./Halifax, LHJMQ) chipped in with two.
With the loss of captain Kirby Dach (Fort Saskatchewan, Alta./Chicago, NHL)
to a tournament-ending wrist injury in the pre-tournament win over Russia,
the Canadians experimented with new line combinations, with terrific
results.
“In a game like that it’s good to kind of get your confidence boosted with
our new linemates,” Cozens said. “You saw with the scoring up and down the
line-up, we have a lot of depth on this team, so we’re excited for what’s
to come.”
Canada got the scoring started early when Kaiden Guhle (Sherwood Park,
Alta./Prince Albert, WHL) found room on the short side to beat German
goaltender Arno Tiefensee less than two minutes in, and Mercer made it 2-0
with a shorthanded goal at 7:27, forcing a turnover behind the German net
and tucking in a wraparound.
Goaltender Devon Levi (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que./Northeastern University,
HE) got himself involved early as well, stretching to his left to
absolutely rob German captain Tim Stützle with a toe save.
Germany capitalized on a five-minute power play to get on the board off the
stick of John-Jason Peterka, whose shot deflected off a Canadian stick and
beat Levi up high just past the 13-minute mark.
It was the first goal allowed by Levi in game action since the start of
selection camp; he had gone more than 163 minutes through Red-White
competition and the pre-tournament win over Russia on Wednesday without
being beaten.
Tomasino needed just 68 seconds to restore the two-goal advantage, catching
Tiefensee leaning, and Krebs poked home a loose puck with just 0.2 seconds
left in the frame to send Canada to the intermission up 4-1.
Tiefensee gave way to Jonas Gahr to start the second period, and he was
under siege from the first drop of the puck.
Mercer got his second of the game 2:40 in, wiring home a feed from
Tomasino, Ryan Suzuki (London, Ont./Saginaw, OHL) banged in a feed from
Mercer after another turnover by a German goaltender, and Newhook struck
twice in just over four minutes to make it an 8-1 game.
Mercer embodied the depth of the Canadian offence; listed as the 13th
forward, the 2020 World Juniors gold medallist played up and down the
line-up and excelled in every role.
“It’s something I try to do in my game, doing the little things right away
from the puck, not always doing the flashy things, but things that can go
unnoticed sometimes,” he said of his approach to his role.
When Tomasino, Cozens and Krebs counted in the final seven minutes of the
middle stanza, Canada had equalled its record for most goals in a period
with seven, last accomplished exactly 31 years ago, in the first period of
an 11-0 win over Poland in Kerava, Finland.
Cozens needed less than five minutes of the third period to complete his
hat trick, and goals from Jakob Pelletier (Quebec City, Que./Val-d’Or,
LHJMQ), Thomas Harley (Jamesville, N.Y./Mississauga, OHL) and McMichael in
a span of 3:36 completed the Canadian scoring.
Florian Elias added a consolation goal on a German power play with less
than 20 seconds to go.
Levi stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced before giving way to Dylan
Garand (Victoria, B.C./Kamloops, WHL) for the third period. Garand turned
aside four of five in his 20 minutes of work.
Canada gets right back to work Sunday when it takes on Slovakia (6 p.m.
ET/3 p.m. PT).