Music: {allcanada} Hall's hat trick leads Canada to rout of Germany

Sunday, May 3, 2015

{allcanada} Hall's hat trick leads Canada to rout of Germany

Fourteen different Canadian players scored at least a point, goalie Martin Jones (Los Angeles Kings) made 17 saves and Canada defeated Germany 10-0 on Sunday at the 2015 IIHF World Championship at 02 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.

Forward Taylor Hall (Edmonton Oilers) had a hat trick, and forward Matt Duchene (Colorado Avalanche) had a goal and three assists, to lead Canada offensively.

Captain Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) gave Canada a 1-0 lead 8:25 into the first period and Canada scored four goals in a span of 11:47. Crosby's goal was followed by Hall's first, and two goals from Cody Eakin (Dallas Stars).

"A lot of guys haven't played in a long time," Crosby told the IIHF website. "I've been fortunate enough to come from the playoffs. It's been a few weeks for some guys. Just to get them in the game was good."

Canada also received goals from forwards Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers) and Tyler Ennis (Buffalo Sabres), and defenseman Aaron Ekblad (Florida Panthers).

Having won its first two games in group play by a combined score of 16-1, Canada will next play the Czech Republic on Monday. Germany will play Switzerland on Tuesday.

Sweden 6, Austria 1: Forward Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators) scored a hat trick and had an assist when Sweden defeated Austria 6-1 Sunday at the 2015 IIHF World Championship at 02 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.

Sweden has won each of its two games in group play and has five points; Austria had previously defeated Switzerland in overtime.

Forsberg scored an unassisted goal 6:22 into the first period to give Sweden a 1-0 lead. Sweden also received first period goals from defensemen Oscar Klefbom (Edmonton Oilers) and center Anton Lander (Oilers), and led 3-0 to begin the second period.

"We had some pretty goals," forward Loui Eriksson (Boston Bruins), who had two assists, told the IIHF website. "When you give Filip time, he's good in those situations."

Forsberg completed his hat trick in the second period and Sweden also received a goal from center Elias Lindholm (Carolina Hurricanes) to take a 6-0 lead.

Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Arizona Coyotes) had two assists, Lander had a goal and an assist, and goalie Anders Nilsson (New York Islanders) made 16 saves.

Forsberg, who was second among NHL rookies with 63 points and 26 goals this season, had seven of Sweden's 41 shots on goal.

"He's one of the best players in the tournament, and you can't give him the chances like we gave him today," Austria forward Michael Raffl (Philadelphia Flyers) said.

Sweden continues group play Monday against Latvia; Austria next plays France on Tuesday.

Russia 5, Slovenia 3: Former NHL star Ilya Kovalchuk had a goal, goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets) made 22 saves and Russia remained undefeated with a 5-3 win against Slovenia on Sunday at CEZ Arena.

Forward Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles Kings) scored for Slovenia, who lost for the second straight day after losing to Belarus in its opening game Saturday.

Russia received two goals from forward Yevgeni Dadonov and led 3-0 after the first period. Kopitar scored to make it 3-1, and Slovakia had three two-goal deficits during the game, but was never able to pull any closer.

"We did not play a very good game [Saturday against Belarus] but we played better today," Kopitar said. "Today's game was definitely not disappointing. We did some good stuff and have to build on that."

Russia faces the United States on Monday; Slovenia will play Slovakia on Tuesday.

Slovakia 2, Belarus 1 (OT): Defenseman Andrej Meszaros (Buffalo Sabres) scored two goals, including the game-winner, and Slovakia defeated Belarus 2-1 in overtime on Sunday at CEZ Arena in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Forward Sergei Kostitsyn scored for Belarus and Marian Gaborik (Los Angeles Kings) was stopped on a penalty shot for Slovakia in the first period.

Goalie Jan Laco made 17 saves for Slovakia; Kevin Lalande made 32 saves for Belarus.

Meszaros tied the game with 3:26 remaining in the third period. His overtime goal was assisted by forwards Tomas Jurco and Tomas Tatar (Detroit Red Wings) 1:55 into the extra session.

"The first goal was a good play by our guys and I just saw a small spot and short for that," Meszaros said. "The second criss-crossed a few times and Tomas Tatar dropped the puck off for me. I went to the middle and shot, and saw the keeper was down and went high."