Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his second and third goals of the tournament as Canada cruised to a 7-1 victory over host Denmark on Monday at the world hockey championship.
Team captain Connor McDavid, who plays with Nugent-Hopkins on the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, added three assists to give him seven points through three games.
Josh Bailey, Aaron Ekblad, Jordan Eberle, Ryan O’Reilly and Tyson Jost also scored for Canada, which now has two regulation wins and a shootout loss through three games.
Making his second start in as many games, Toronto Maple Leafs backup Curtis McElhinney was perfect until he was beaten on a deflected shot by Jesper Jensen Aabo, 8:07 into the third period. The 34-year-old McElhinney, who is suiting up for Canada for the first time in his career at any level, made 14 saves as he continued his strong bid for the No. 1 job.
Monday’s much-anticipated matchup between McElhinney and Maple Leafs goaltending partner, Frederik Andersen, didn’t materialize. Denmark coach Jan Karlsson elected to rest his top netminder against Canada after Andersen faced 80 shots in his first two games.
The host nation is currently in tough to reach the quarterfinal — tied for fifth place after three games, with the only top four advancing to the elimination round. Andersen will be needed for Denmark’s more winnable games through the remainder of the preliminary round.
Sebastian Dahm got his first start of the tournament for Denmark, making 22 saves on 29 shots.
The ice was tilted in Canada’s favour right from the opening puck drop. The visitors outshot their hosts 14-2 in the first period and took a 2-0 lead off a power-play goal from Bailey and an even-strength slap shot from the blue line by Ekblad, set up by a smooth cross-ice pass from McDavid.
After Mat Barzal had a power-play goal early in the second period waved off due to goaltender interference, Canada scored three goals that did count in the middle frame. Eberle converted in the slot on another power play for his second of the tournament at 4:16, before O’Reilly showed off his strong skating and slick hands with a roof job over Dahm’s glove at 6:53.
Nugent-Hopkins made it 5-0 just 24 seconds later, off the rush on a delayed penalty. He added his second of the game off a perfect goal-mouth pass from McDavid at the 6:43 mark of the third, and Jost finished off the scoring with his third of the tournament with 1:50 left in the third period.
With its enthusiasm sagging, the crowd of 10,800 at Jyske Bank Boxen sprang back to life when Denmark got on the board in the third period off a deflection in the slot that went between the legs of a surprised McElhinney. Fans stood and applauded their team with a thunderous ovation as the final seconds of the game wound off the clock.
Special teams have been a strength for Canada in this tournament. With two more power-play goals on Monday, Canada is now 5-for-11 through three games, and a perfect 9-for-9 on the penalty kill.
In earlier action on Monday, Keith Kinkaid earned his second-straight shutout as the United States defeated Germany 3-0 to stay on top of the Group B standings, while Russia recorded its third-straight shutout with a 6-0 win over Belarus in Group A in Copenhagen. In the late game in Group A, Sweden beat France 4-0.
Canada now sits second in the Group B standings, one point behind the United States.
Canada’s next game is Thursday at against Norway, which is 0-1-1-0 through two games.
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