ONE DOWN, GOLD TO GO
Opening onslaught launches bid to end gold medal drought
Anthony Duclair, centre, celebrates his first-period goal with teammates Shea Theodore, left, and Darnell Nurse as Canada begins the world junior hockey championship with an emphatic win over Slovakia in Montreal.
MONTREAL— If there was a mantra emanating from Team Canada’s world junior entry after thumping Slovakia 8-0 on Friday night, it was that it was “just one game.”
The words were echoed by Canadian player after Canadian player — in English and in French — as they strolled the media mixed zone, a confident bunch off to the kind of start they envisioned.
“You can’t let it get to our head,” said forward Robby Fabbri, player of the game with two goals and two assists. “The coach did a good job letting us know it’s only one game in the tournament. We have another game (Saturday night against Germany). We have to play the same way. “We can’t take (Germany) lightly.” Still, it sent a message to the rest of the competition — and this country — that this team is up to the task of ending Canada’s medal drought, with offence to burn.
“This is a confidence booster,” said forward Anthony Duclair, who had a goal and an assist, “but we have to stay humble.”
On the ice, the “don’t take your foot off the pedal” mentality was best exemplified by Max Domi.
The score was 5-0 Canada when Domi used a burst of speed on the backcheck to prevent a scoring chance for Slovakia. The play quickly went the other way and Domi got the puck in the slot, rifling a wrist shot for a 6-0 lead.
“That was a heck of a shift,” said Team Canada captain Curtis Lazar. “That’s what we want to build off. That’s Canadian hockey. A great backcheck to prevent a goal and he gets rewarded going the other way. That’s an example of leadership.”
As for the rest of the offence, Nic Petan had a goal and two assists, Brayden Point and Jake Virtanen each recorded a goal and an assist, and Nick Paul had the other marker. Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet, but led Canada with six shots.
Goalie Zach Fucale didn’t have much to do, facing 12 shots, but it still goes down as a shutout. Eric Comrie will start in net against Germany.
The happiest forward was probably Duclair, the Montreal native on loan from the New York Rangers.
“It’s amazing growing up in Montreal, playing in my hometown. To play in this building is a special feeling, and to score in it is amazing,” said Duclair.
If there was a surprise, it was the size of the crowd. Montreal, famed for its passionate hockey fans, failed to show in droves for Canada’s opener and plenty of seats remain available for the rest of the Canadian games in the round-robin.
To be fair, Toronto’s Air Canada Centre had empty seats for the other pool, but Montreal has the home team to sell. Official attendance was not announced, and some fans complained of price gouging — especially for the nearly empty club seats on the second level at either end.
The fans who did show up, though, were loud — not Canadiens loud, however — and saw Canada at its dominating best.
It was a feel-good performance over a weaker opponent, but one that has given Canada fits. In each of the last two world juniors, Slovakia held leads over Canada late in the game.
“We came in not worrying about who the opponent was. Just play our game, play fast,” said Fabbri. “It feels good, but it’s just one game. We have to keep it going.”
The Canadians were anxious to get going for a couple of reasons. First, they’ve been in training camp mode for almost two weeks and haven’t played a meaningful game since they left their clubs.
“I know for myself, I just got here recently and I’m already sick and tired of it,” said Lazar, freed up late by the Ottawa Senators for the tournament. “I can’t imagine about these other guys. They’ve been itching and ready to go for a while.”
The other reason is that Canada wants to return to the podium, preferably on top, after finishing fourth the last two years and without gold since 2009.
“I know . . . I want to erase that memory from last year and overcome it with a result this year,” said Lazar, one of seven returnees from last year. “I feel we have a great group and we’re going to be able to have success no matter who we’re playing against. It’s a matter of executing every time we step out on the ice.”