2016-17 National Men's Team

POWER PLAY PUSHES CANADA PAST NORWAY AT WORLDS

JASON LA ROSE

PARIS, France – Colton Parayko (St. Albert, Alta./St. Louis, NHL) had a pair of power-play goals – two of the four Canada scored with the man advantage – and the Canadians wrapped up first place in Group B at the 2017 IIHF World Championship with a 5-0 win over Norway on Monday.

It is the fourth year in a row Canada has finished atop its preliminary-round group.

Brayden Schenn (Saskatoon, Sask./Philadelphia, NHL) and Ryan O’Reilly (Varna, Ont./Buffalo, NHL) also scored on the power play, while Mark Scheifele (Kitchener, Ont,/Winnipeg, NHL) had the lone five-on-five goal. O’Reilly and Scheifele finished with a goal and an assist apiece, while Nathan MacKinnon (Cole Harbour, N.S./Colorado, NHL) chipped in with three helpers.

Chad Johnson (Calgary, Alta./Calgary, NHL) was rarely tested in the Canadian goal, making just 10 saves, and only two in the final 40 minutes.

O’Reilly had a very early chance to get the scoring started on a penalty shot less than two minutes in, but Norwegian goaltender Henrik Haukeland got his arm on the shot to keep it scoreless.

Outshot in the early minutes, the Canadians turned up the offence in the latter half of the opening period, finishing with a 21-8 advantage in the first 20 minutes.

Schenn struck first at 17:48, chopping a backhand past Haukeland on the power play. The Norwegians went right back to the penalty box, and Parayko got a wrist shot through a Scheifele screen in front for his first international goal at 18:42 and a 2-0 Canadian lead after one.

Canada went into defensive lockdown from there, holding the Norwegians without a shot on goal for the first 14 minutes of the second period, and to just two in total in the middle frame.

Scheifele netted his first goal of the tournament at 14:57, burying a rebound on the doorstep, before Parayko hammered a slap shot past Haukeland for his second on another power play late in the period.

The Canadians held Norway without a shot in the third period, and O’Reilly finished a tic-tac-toe passing play with a one-timer from the slot with 2:40 remaining to provide the final margin of victory.

Final shots on goal favoured Canada, 48-10.

The preliminary round wraps up Tuesday, with Canada facing off against Finland (2:15 p.m. ET/11:15 a.m. PT). It will be the 47th meeting between the long-time rivals, with the Canadians holding a 35-9-2 all-time advantage.