McDavid’s hat trick lifts Canadians into tie for first

CANADA 5, NORWAY 0

Connor McHERNING, DENMARK David 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. After opening the round robin portion of their schedule with three games in four days, Canada’s players looked rested and energized against Norway after two days off.

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

McDavid added his second when 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, then completed his hat trick by roofing the puck over a sprawled Haugen at 8:51 of the second.

McElhinney made nine saves in 48:12 of action before leaving. Kuemper stepped in to finish the game, but didn’t need to make any saves. Haugen made 28 for Norway.

After Canada’s win and a 3-2 overtime victory for the United States over Latvia Thursday, the North American squads are tied at the top of Group B with 10 points each. Norway is last in the group with three points in four games.

In Group A action in Copenhagen, Slovakia beat France 3-1 and Russia edged the Czech Republic 4-3 in overtime. The Czechs got an immediate boost from the arrival of David Pastrnak and David Krejci, playing in their first games after the Boston Bruins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Canada’s next opponent is Finland on Saturday.