Jordan Kyrou leads Canada past Denmark 5-2 at world junior selection camp
Jordan Kyrou had a goal and an assist as Canada’s junior hockey team beat Denmark 5-2 on Friday.
The game was part of Hockey Canada’s selection camp as it narrows down its roster from 27 players to 22 for the upcoming world junior championship.
Alex Formenton had the eventual winner for Canada late in the second period, while Boris Katchouk, Brett Howden and Tyler Steenbergen also scored.
Joachim Blichfeld and Phillip Schultz replied for Denmark.
Both teams changed goalies midway through the game. Colton Point started in net for Canada, stopping 4-of-5 shots before giving way to Michael DiPietro, who made eight saves.
Emil Gransoe turned aside 21-of-23 shots in the first 30 minutes of play for Denmark. Mads Sogaard stopped 27-of-30.
Dante Fabbro, a defenceman with Boston University, played in his first game of the selection camp. He had missed Canada’s two losses to a team of U Sports all-stars on Wednesday and Thursday with an undisclosed injury.
Defencemen Kale Clague and Conor Timmins, forwards Dillon Dube and Jonah Gajovich and goalie Carter Hart did not dress for the game. Their exclusion from the game is an indication that they all likely made head coach Dominique Ducharme’s final roster.
Canada will next play exhibition games against Czech Republic on Wednesday in London, Ont., and Switzerland on Dec. 22 in Hamilton. The Canadians’ final roster must be submitted to the International Ice Hockey Federation by Dec. 25. Their first game is in Buffalo, N.Y., on Dec. 26.
Katchouk snapped a rebound over Gransoe 6:05 into the first period on a power play. Gransoe had dropped to his knees on the initial shot and was reaching for the puck when Katchouk pulled it back and wristed it over the downed goalie.
Blichfeld tied it 1-1 for Denmark with nine minutes remaining in the first, picking a corner over Point’s right shoulder from a difficult angle, low in the faceoff circle.
Howden re-established Canada’s lead in the second period, flipping the puck over Gransoe.
Canada continued to press in the second period, with defenceman Cal Foote firing a wrist shot on net from the faceoff circle. The big rebound off Sogaard bounced directly to Formenton, who was skating in all alone and had an open net to make it 3-1.
The Canadians outshot Denmark 31-9 after the second intermission, but Schultz breathed some life into the Danes’ game, wiring a shot past DiPietro from the slot to cut Canada’s lead to 3-2 just 33 seconds into the third.
Steenbergen redirected a pass from Kyrou, who was behind the goal line, to give Canada a 4-2 lead 7:33 into the third period just after a Danish penalty had expired.
Kyrou, who leads the Ontario Hockey League in scoring, had his first goal of Canada’s selection camp on a power play late in the third.