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It was a decisive win for Canada, as they put away Sweden in their second game of pre-tournament play.
The Canadians got off to a strong start, capitalizing on an early penalty to William Lagesson. Max Domi's line wasted no time getting on the board. A nice pass by Sam Reinhart,and a good pinch by Joe Hicketts created an overload on Sweden's goalmouth, where Max Domi cleaned up the garbage, putting Canada up by one. Jake Virtanen almost put the Canadians ahead by two thanks to a great forecheck by Domi, but his shot hit the post.
It wouldn't be long until Canada found their second goal, and their ability to activate defensemen from the blueline became quite apparent. Madison Bowey's pinch led to a high quality scoring chance for Nick Ritchie. Ritchie was denied, but when the puck found it's way to Josh Morrissey he made no mistake, wiring a shot past Samuel Ward.
It was a dominant period for the home team, as evidenced by the shots on net that were 15-5 in favour of Canada. The long bright spot for Sweden was Habs prospect Jacob de la Rose, who created two scoring chances during what was otherwise a period to forget for the Swedes.
In contrast to the first, it was a good start to the second period for Sweden, which led to a Madison Bowey holding penalty. During the powerplay, William Nylander put the puck on a tee for Gustav Forsling, who wasted no time taking the shot, fooling Eric Comrie glove side.
Canada quickly restored its two goal lead, thanks to a misplayed puck by Samuel Ward. Anthony Duclair took advantage of the situation, making it 3-1. It was a tough goal to swallow for the Swedes, who had dominated the period to this point. Sebastian Aho had a chance to cut Canada's lead to one, but his shot was denied thanks to a great save by Eric Comrie. At this point, the shots were 9-2 during the period in favour of Sweden. Truthfully, the Canadians were lucky to head to the locker room with a two goal lead.
Canada quickly put their bad second period behind them, thanks to a Shea Theodore goal early in the frame. Connor McDavid's strong push into the offensive zone created a big rebound, on which Theodore made no mistake. Sam Reinhart was the next to cash in for the Canadians, beating Ward with a wicked wrist shot to make it 5-1.
Leafs prospect William Nylander was awarded a penalty shot late in the game, which was drawn due to his elite speed. Comrie had no chance, given that Nylander is used to shooting on professional goalies. It was a great goal, but unfortunately for Sweden it was too little, too late.
It was an encouraging performance by the Canadians, who did a good job controlling the play during the majority of the game. Curtis Lazar, Connor McDavid, Anthony Duclair, Max Domi and company are only warming up, and if they can continue to produce dominant shifts, it may end up being a great tournament for the Canadians.
Eric Comrie wasn't all that busy but he made saves when he needed to, and probably didn't look as shaky as Fucale had in the Russian game. It'll be interesting to see who Benoit Groulx chooses as the tournament enters the round robin stage, but it's definitely not a guarantee that Fucale is assigned the starter role.
Canada's final game of pre-tournament action will take place on Tuesday, versus Switzerland.