Canada cruises past Slovakia in World Junior test run

MONCTON, N.B. – As the world junior championship approaches, Canada continued to look impressive in pre-tournament play with a 6-1 win over Slovakia on Wednesday at the Avenir Centre.

Joshua Roy, with one goal and one assist, and Colton Dach, Brandt Clarke, Zach Dean, Brennan Othmann and Dylan Guenther all scored for Canada.

Connor Bedard and Shane Wright each had two assists and Benjamin Gaudreau stopped 16 shots.

Samuel Honzek halted Gaudreau’s shutout bid with Slovakia’s lone goal at 2:24 of the third period. Patrik Andrisik had 41 saves.

Canada went 2-for-6 on the power play, with Slovakia going 0-for-5. The Canadians outshot their opponents 47-17, including 23-1 in a two-goal second period.

Canada was coming off a 6-0 win over Switzerland on Monday. Canada closes out its exhibition schedule against Finland on Friday before suiting up for its first contest of the world juniors on Dec. 26 against Czechia in Halifax.