Canada brushes off France 4-0 at World Hockey Championships (HIGHLIGHTS)

Dec 19 2017, 11:28 am

It’s back-to-back shutouts for Canada at the World Hockey Championships. After shutting out Slovakia on Saturday, Canada blanked France 4-0 this morning to improve to a perfect 6-0 at the tournament.

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Corey Perry and Mark Stone each had a goal and an assist, and Calvin Pickard made 13 saves for his first shutout of the tournament.

“I thought we had a complete game,” said Ryan O’Reilly. “From start to finish we were consistent. We pressured the puck and supported each other and it worked out in the end for us.”

Even though France only mustered 13 shots, they had some quality scoring chances. Damien Fleury’s shot on a breakaway five minutes in hit the post, Charles Bertrand lost the puck on a penalty shot, and Teddy da Costa missed a gaping net on a 2-on-1.

“It was a tight game,” said Pickard. “We were playing really well all the way through but they were tight in the [defensive] zone and their goalie played really well too. But we kept being relentless and by the end we were really dominating.”

Canada now leads all teams in the tournament with three shutouts, and haven’t allowed a goal since the second period against Germany.

Canada has one game left before the elimination round, and it’s the biggest one yet. They’ll be taking on Finland, the only other undefeated team in the tournament.

“[Finland’s] got a ton of talent and they’ve been playing well all tournament,” said O’Reilly. “It’s not gonna be an easy game, and for us, it’s about being consistent.”

Finland’s top scorer is Patrik Laine, the consensus #2 pick in this year’s NHL draft. The Finnish sniper has six goals and ten points in six games, which has him sitting #2 among the tournament scoring leaders.

You can catch that game Tuesday morning at 11:15 a.m on TSN.

DH Calgary StaffDH Calgary Staff

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