McDavid leads Canada past Norway

MCDAVID SCORES HAT TRICK, HORVAT ADDS TWO IN 5-0 VICTORY

Behind the net or falling to the ice, it doesn’t matter to Connor McDavid. Canada’s captain is a threat to score no matter where he gets the puck.

McDavid had a hat trick while Curtis McElhinney and Darcy Kuemper shared the shutout as Canada beat Norway 5-0 in Group B action Thursday at the world hockey championship.

Bo Horvat added his first two goals of the tournament to round out the scoring.

After opening the roundrobin portion of their schedule with three games in four days, Canada’s players looked rested and energized against Norway after two days off — none more so than McDavid.

Canada’s captain walked out from behind the net before firing high over the blocker of Norway goaltender Lars Haugen to open the scoring just 1:23 into the first period.

McDavid added his second of the night as he shot the puck over Haugen’s stick as he fell to the ice at the right faceoff dot with 4:19 left in the first period, then completed his hat trick before the game was half over, roofing the puck over a sprawled Haugen at 8:51 of the second period.

“His first two goals tonight were pretty impressive,” said defenceman Colton Parayko, who assisted on McDavid’s first and third markers and is now tied for the tournament scoring lead among defencemen with five points. “(McDavid) kind of scores falling down on the second one; the first one he just finds the open space.

“He just seems to find the spaces and he takes advantage of it. That’s what good players do.”

“He’s a guy who can get his own shot and he knows when our team needs to be picked up,” added coach Bill Peters, who has seen McDavid’s game grow since he coached him to a gold medal with Canada at the 2016 world championship in Russia. “He’s continuing to evolve his game and be a dangerous player each and every shift.”

Horvat scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 12:49 of the first while McDavid was serving a highsticking penalty, then from in close off a pass from PierreLuc Dubois at 2:24 of the third.

Canadian Press photo Canada’s Connor McDavid, left, challenges for the puck with Norway’s Johannes Johannesen, right, during the Ice Hockey World Championships group B match between Norway and Canada at the Jyske Bank Boxen arena in Herning, Denmark, Thursday.