Canada routs Slovenia
Barrie continues to rack up points — 1 goal, 3 assists — in 7-2 win; Canada now 2-0
PARIS — By his own admission, he wasn’t winning any points for style, but Nathan MacKinnon’s offensive output helped power Canada to another strong performance at the world hockey championship.
MacKinnon scored a hat trick to lift Canada to a 7-2 win over Slovenia on Sunday. The victory at AccorHotels Arena in Paris improved Canada’s record to 2-0.
“I thought the puck was following me around,” said MacKinnon, who was named Canada’s player of the game. “I had a couple of greasy goals.”
MacKinnon also added an assist, while Colorado Avalanche teammate Tyson Barrie had a goal and three assists. Barrie now leads all players in the tournament with six points.
“I’ve just been playing with good guys,” Barrie said when asked about the secret to his early-tournament success. “I haven’t really done anything too spectacular. It’s just a mixture of trying to jump in the play and be available. These guys . . . there’s obviously so much skill on this team, they’ll find you.”
Brayden Point, Mitch Marner and Jeff Skinner also had goals for Canada, while Travis Konecny added three assists.
Chad Johnson made 12 saves in his first start of the tournament.
The Canadians built a 5-0 lead before Slovenia got on the scoreboard, with Jan Mursak and Jan Urbas getting a goal each. Gasper Kroselj faced 51 shots in Slovenia’s net.
Canada, the two-time defending world champion, is first in Group B. In later games Sunday in Paris, France shocked Finland 5-1 and Switzerland blanked Norway 3-0.
In Group A action in Cologne, Germany, Russia beat Italy 10-1, the U.S. downed Denmark 7-2 and Latvia defeated Slovakia 3-1. Canada faces Belarus (0-2) today.