Coach keeps Canada’s starter secret
You know things are going well for Canada when the starting goaltender debate becomes a hot topic at the world junior hockey championship.
Head coach Dominique Ducharme wouldn’t tip his hand Friday on who will get the start in Saturday’s showdown against the United States. Netminder Carter Hart played well enough to win both his games earlier this week while Connor Ingram posted a six-save shutout victory in his lone appearance.
“The one thing that’s for sure is that we want our two guys to be involved and ready to play,” Ducharme said Friday. “We’ll see how we do it.”
Hart, who was initially expected to see most of the action in the tournament, opened with a so-so performance in a 5-3 win over Russia on Boxing Day. Ingram helped Canada to a 5-0 win over Slovakia a day later.
Hart returned to the crease Thursday night, but let in a pair of goals in a 10-2 rout of Latvia.
The Americans will provide a stiff challenge regardless of who’s in the Canadian net. Clayton Keller and Colin White have anchored a solid offensive attack that boasts four strong lines.
Both Canada and the U.S. opened the tournament with three wins.
“The main focus is on us,” Ducharme said. “I say it pretty much every day. But we want to be at our best using our tools. Obviously there are little details. We know they’re fast, they’re skilled.”
Captain Dylan Strome has been a rock for the Canadian side, which has had offensive contributions from up and down the lineup. Taylor Raddysh broke out with a four-goal performance Thursday.
“It’s a rivalry that has gone back a long time,” Strome said. “With world junior games, you think of Canada and U.S., you think of New Year’s Eve. So the story is there, we’ve got to write it.”
The playoff crossover format means the winner will play the fourth seed from Group A in the quarter-finals Monday. The loser will finish second in Group B and next meet Group A’s third seed.
Canada, which settled for a sixthplace finish at the 2016 tournament in Helsinki, will play its playoffround games in Montreal.
Switz. 5 Denmark 5-4 (SO)
Marco Miranda scored the only shootout goal to give Switzerland a 5-4 victory over Denmark in Montreal. Both teams advanced to the quarterfinals from Group A, leaving defending champion Finland in the relegation round.
In Group B, Slovakia faced Latvia on Friday night in Toronto. The Canadian Press