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In a game where Canada’s offensive stars were largely silent, unheralded forward Emmitt Finnie helped keep his team undefeated at the world hockey championship in Fribourg, Switzerland.
Finnie scored his first international goal and added an assist as Canada defeated Slovenia 3-1 on Friday to increase its lead atop the standings in Group B.
It’s another step forward for Finnie, who has found a regular role with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings after being selected in the seventh round of the 2023 draft.
The 20-year-old from Lethbridge, Alta., appeared in all 82 games as a Red Wings rookie this season, scoring 17 goals and adding 13 assists.
Finnie showed a goal-scorers poise as he put the game out of reach in the third period. Parked in front of the Slovenian goal, he smartly redirected a Morgan Rielly point shot past goaltender Zan Us.
“It feels great [to score], and if anyone told me nine months ago that I would be [at world championship], I would have said they were crazy,” said Finnie, who was named Canada’s player of the game.
“It has been a lot of fun here, and I have had a lot of support from everyone, so it feels great. We need to keep playing our game, never be satisfied and keep working hard.”
Denton Mateychuk and Dylan Cozens also scored for Canada, which leads Pool B with 14 points from four regulation wins and an overtime victory.
Mateychuk, playing in his first worlds, skated to the top of the left circle before shooting past Slovenia goaltender Zan Us at 11:07 in the opening period.
WATCH | Canada earns 4th regulation victory in Fribourg:
A pair of 2nd period goals leads Canada to win over Slovenia at worlds
Dylan Cozens and Emmitt Finnie second period goals that led Canada to a 3-1 victory over Slovenia on Friday. The Canadian team remains undefeated in Pool B play at the world championships.
Cozens added the second from the slot with 6:46 remaining in the middle period for his third goal in Switzerland. Sidney Crosby bagged his sixth assist at the tournament.
Rozle Bohinc scored for Slovenia with 65 seconds left to spoil Jet Greaves’s shutout bid.
Greaves made 13 saves for Canada, while Zan Us stopped 29 shots for Slovenia.
“Slovenia competes hard, and their goalie played well and stood on his head today,” Finnie said of Us’s performance.
Cozens was happy to see Finnie make the most of his chance to get into the lineup.
“[Finnie] has been in and out of the lineup, but he has been positive every day and he is a fun teammate to be around,” Cozens said. “Every time he gets on the ice, he works hard and he got rewarded for that today.”
Canada completes its preliminary round with games against Slovakia on Sunday (2:20 p.m. ET) and Czechia on Tuesday (2:20 p.m.). The Slovaks face the Czechs on Saturday.
Second-place Slovakia is three points behind Canada in Pool B, while the Czechs are four points back.
Canada has won four games in regulation and one in overtime.
In a Group A in Zurich, Germany downed Hungary 6-2 for its first victory at the worlds after four defeats. Leon Gawanke sparked the Germans with a hat trick.
Italy and Britain lose, again
Italy and Britain, the newcomers to the top division, extended their losing streaks to five games.
Britain was blanked by Finland 4-0 in Zurich while Sweden shut out Italy 3-0 in Fribourg.
Finland’s Ville Heinola set the tone netting the first of his two goals 58 seconds into the game. Finland stayed perfect with a fifth win and joined host Switzerland atop Group A.
Sweden relied on two goals from Ivar Stenberg, who is a top prospect for the NHL draft. The Swedes won their third game.
Italy and Britain are both pointless and bottom of their groups. They must win points in their remaining two group stage games to avoid an immediate relegation.
