OTTAWA — Calum Ritchie's goal at 16:24 of the third period snapped a 2-2 deadlock and lifted Canada to a 4-2 victory over Sweden in a pre-World Junior Championship exhibition game on Saturday night at TD Place.
Sweden grabbed a 2-1 second-period lead on goals from Felix Unger Sorum and Rasmus Bergqvist, but couldn't hold off the Canadians in the third period, who outshot the visitors 17-6, and 44-24 overall.
Luca Pinelli, Oliver Bonk and Easton Cowan also scored for Canada. Ritchie chipped in with two assists.
Canada went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Sweden was 0-for-2.
Canada beat Switzerland 7-1 on Thursday in its first pre-tournament game. Canada concludes its exhibition schedule with a game Monday against Czechia. Sweden will play Germany on Monday in Belleville, Ont.
The World Junior Championship gets underway on Boxing Day with four games, including Canada facing Finland at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.
Elsewhere in pre-tournament games on Saturday:
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UNITED STATES 6 SLOVAKIA 2
KINGSTON, Ont. — Ryan Leonard scored twice and added an assist as the United States defeated Slovakia 6-2 at Slush Puppie Place.
Austin Burnevik, James Hagens, Trevor Connelly and Danny Nelson also scored for the Americans, who outshot Slovakia 25-24.
Juraj Pekarcik and Peter Cisar scored for Slovakia, which trailed 2-0 after the first period and 4-1 heading into the third.
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KAZAKHSTAN 8 HAWKESBURY 1
HAWKESBURY, Ont. — Brayden Besner scored at 7:38 of the third period to prevent his Hawkesbury Hawks junior A hockey team from being blanked by Kazakhstan.
The visitors won 8-1 in a warm-up game before the World Junior Championship tourney that starts on Boxing Day in Ottawa.
Kirill Lyapunov and Adil Beisembayev scored two goals each for Kazakhstan, while Nikita Sitnikov, Semyon Simonov, Artur Gross and Assanali Ruslanuly netted singles.
Kazakhstan outshot the hosts 41-35 and went 1-for-5 on the power play. The Hawks went 0-for-3 on the power play.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 21, 2024.
The Canadian Press
