BUFFALO, N.Y. — Coming into Saturday night, Canada had never lost to Denmark at the world junior hockey championship, winning four prior confrontations by a combined score of 28-4. And 20 minutes into the fifth contest between the two teams Saturday night, as Canada carried a three-goal lead into the dressing room with a significant advantage in shots on goal, it was pretty clear Denmark wouldn’t be making history.
Of course, the Danes were always going to be in tough to pull off the upset of all upsets in this one. For a physical, defensive-minded team with strong goaltending like Slovakia to steal one against the Americans was one thing. For a team that has advanced to the quarterfinals of this tournament only once in its history like Denmark to vanquish the Canadians would have been another thing entirely.
But credit to the Danes for not going away quietly and making Canada earn its final win of the preliminary round. Denmark kept it to a one-goal deficit for most of the first period until Canada opened it up in the dying minutes. And even as Canada continued to pull away in the ensuing frames, Denmark never stopped pressuring, forcing Canada to work hard right through to the end.
But by that end the scoreboard read 8-0, with a 44-18 shot advantage to boot, as the Canadians took care of business. With the comprehensive victory, Canada clinched first place in Pool A and now awaits the results of Sunday’s games to learn their opponent in the quarterfinals.
"I like where we’re at," said Canadian head coach Dominique Ducharme. "Obviously finishing first was important. And I liked the way we played tonight. We managed the game in a good way.
"We’ve been through a lot in four games. Lived different situations. And I think we’re adapting well and learning. And now we’re ready to start the final round."
In the meantime, Ducharme’s group gets two full days off to rest up, heal up, and prepare for the medal round. Here are some takeaways from an overwhelming Canadian victory.
How it happened
Robert Thomas got Canada on the board just four minutes in, sneaking a puck through Danish goaltender Emil Gransoe’s short side. Brett Howden added another late in the opening period, shovelling a juicy rebound into an open net. And Sam Steel made it three just moments after, potting a loose puck during a scramble in the crease.
In the second, Cale Makar found the back of the net through a crowd on a power play, and Howden got his second of the night, deflecting a point shot past Gransoe.
Alex Formenton made it a half dozen on a breakaway early in the third, before Michael McLeod sniped his first of the tournament off a turnover. Drake Batherson added a late goal to round out the rout.
Canada has truly scored by committee thus far, with 13 players scoring a goal through the first four games. Tyler Steenbergen, who has mostly been playing very limited minutes, is the only Canadian forward yet to score a goal.
"It’s a very deep group," said Howden, who was named Canada’s player of the game. "There’s lots of guys who can play lots of different roles and put the puck in the net. We’re a skilled, fast group. And guys that are willing to adapt to any role. So when you get that kind of group, it’s pretty amazing to see."
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Keeping it clean
While there’s only so much you can take away from an 8-0 drubbing like this, one thing Ducharme most certainly wanted to see from his team was improved discipline. It’s been a running theme for his group all tournament, ever since Canada took six minor penalties in its tournament-opening defeat of Finland.
Canada was tied for the tournament led in minor penalties committed through three games, which was not exactly what Ducharme had in mind when he challenged his group to commit only three penalties or less per game coming into the world juniors.
In fact, you can make a strong case that the only reason Canada didn’t go undefeated in the preliminary round is due to multiple bad penalties taken against the United States during the outdoor game on Friday.
Howden and Formenton each took penalties on the same play in the second period of that game, gifting the U.S. a long two-man advantage which they scored on. And then there was Maxime Comtois’ boarding penalty in the third, which allowed the U.S. to tally another power play marker and get back in a game that was slowly slipping away.
Asked after Friday’s shootout loss if his team’s poor discipline would be a concern going forward, Ducharme responded as directly as he has all tournament.
"It won’t be, it won’t be," he said. "I can guarantee you, that’s for sure."
And to his point, Saturday’s game was a definite improvement. Canada didn’t commit an infraction until six minutes left in the second, when Conor Timmins hauled down a Danish player in the neutral zone.
Dillon Dube received an iffy interference penalty shortly thereafter, but that was it as the Canadians stayed out of the box in the third.
"That was one of our key focuses going into the game," said defenceman Kale Clague. "I think as a group we understand we can’t be taking more than two or three penalties a game if we want to win. So, I thought we did a good job of that. And we’re going to continue to improve on it going forward.
Canada goalie Carter Hart makes a save against Denmark’s Joachim Blichfeld. (Mark Blinch/CP)
Between the pipes
Canadian goaltender Carter Hart was given an immediate opportunity to put Friday’s demoralizing shootout loss behind him, drawing the start in net on the latter half of a back-to-back and stopping every shot he faced.
It stands to reason that this would have been a good spot for Colton Point to get his second outing of the tournament, considering how draining, emotionally and physically, Friday’s game at New Era Field must have been. Point was strong earlier this week against Slovakia, and with only one goal scored coming into the contest, it was unlikely Denmark was going to pepper the Canadian net with scoring chances.
But Ducharme said he wanted to keep Hart fresh with two days off prior to the quarterfinals. So, Hart took the crease, facing only four shots in the first period, although one of them was legitimately challenging as Danish forward Nikolaj Krag streaked in on a partial breakaway but couldn’t get the puck past the Canadian netminder.
Hart faced only 14 shots in the second and third as he recorded Canada’s second shutout of the tournament.
"The ref came over to me and was like, ‘are you cold? I could bring you a blanket if you want,’" Hart said. "But it wasn’t bad. I was just trying to focus on the play in the other end so I was ready for whatever comes."
Taking minutes
A game like this gives a head coach a chance to lean more heavily on bottom-six forwards and pull back on the workloads of players carrying injuries. Canada certainly has a few of those along the blue line, and Ducharme took the opportunity to let some of his walking wounded rest up.
Dante Fabbro’s minutes have fluctuated game-to-game as he continues to get back up to full speed after missing several weeks of play prior to the tournament due to a lower body injury. He was used sparingly against Denmark, playing 3:34 in the first period before taking the rest of the night off.
Victor Mete’s minutes were also notably light, as he played only 7:39, and didn’t see the ice in the third.
"We just wanted to make sure that they would be 100 per cent for the quarters," Ducharme said. "With the game the way it was going, we were in control, and we didn’t want to expose them.
"We think that starting the quarterfinal we’re going to be 100 per cent."
On offence, Ducharme essentially rolled his lines in the first period before leaning more heavily on his bottom six as the game wore on.
But there was good news on the health front, as Clague logged significant minutes Saturday, putting in 22:03, with a team-high 35 shifts.
Clague missed his team’s second game of the tournament — a victory over Slovakia — due to a bone bruise he suffered blocking a shot with his right foot in Canada’s opener vs. Finland, but returned to the lineup against the Americans Friday and played a game-high 27 minutes. After the game, he said he was feeling much better, which is somewhat remarkable considering he also said he could barely walk when he woke up the morning of the Slovakia game.
"I feel good. The foot’s been good for me," Clague said. "Lots of rehab over the last couple days and I’m feeling better now."
Canada’s Conor Timmins (3) carries the puck past Denmark’s Andreas Grundtvig. (Mark Blinch/CP)
Looking ahead
What we know now is Canada will next play Tuesday, Jan. 2 in a quarterfinal vs. the fourth-place finisher in Pool B, which will be either Russia, Switzerland or Czech Republic, depending on Sunday’s results. Canada played two of those teams in pre-tournament tune-ups, shutting out the Czechs, 9-0, and prevailing over the Swiss, 8-1.
If Canada gets through its quarterfinal, it would then play a semi-final Thursday, Jan. 4 with a berth in the gold medal game on the line.
"We’ll use the experience that we have now and we’ll prepare for every situation," Ducharme said. "I think our guys have been through a lot and they understand. We’ll take the team that we’re going to be playing, we’ll prepare for them. But the main thing is to be as good as we can be, and to stick to our plan."
