Bo Horvat scored twice while Dylan Garand stopped 11 shots as Canada defeated Slovenia 4-0 on Saturday in its first game of the world hockey championship in Stockholm, Sweden.
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists for Canada, which outshot Slovenia 44-11. Noah Dobson had the other goal.
WATCH | Bo Horvat leads Team Canada at the IIHF world championships:
Bo Horvat leads Team Canada at the IIHF world championships
“We thought we could have scored a few more goals because we had a some really good opportunities that we missed on,” said Canadian coach Dean Evason. “We had some glorious scoring chances and we need to continue to get those opportunities and bury a few more (goals).
“Overall in the game, the guys conducted themselves well offensively and defensively. We have talked a lot about building chemistry quickly, and we may flip the lines tomorrow to get new guys playing with each other, but we really like the commitment of our group tonight.”
Canada takes on Latvia on Sunday.
“(The Slovenians) defended really hard and their goalie made some great saves,” said Canadian captain Sidney Crosby. “We had some good looks at the net, and we will look to keep getting better with a quick turnaround for (Sunday’s) game.
“It is not too often that you get opportunities to play in these tournaments, represent Canada and be a part of a group like this, so I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity.”
Crosby is serving as Canada’s captain 10 years after his last world hockey championship appearance when he captained the Canadian squad to gold. Forward Macklin Celebrini played on Crosby’s line Saturday and heaped lavish praise upon the veteran performer.
“It is awesome (to play on a line with Crosby),” he said. “A lot of us grew up idolizing him because he is the best player in the world, and getting the chance to play with him is special because he makes the game look so easy.”
