ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Canada downed France 4-0 Monday at the world hockey championship, setting up a winner-take-all matchup with Finland for first place in Group B.
Calvin Pickard made 13 saves to pick up a shutout in his second start as Canada improved its record to 6-0, tied for first place in the group with the Finns at 18 points.
Canada and Finland, led by top draft prospect Patrik Laine, meet Tuesday in the final round-robin game for both teams. The winner will face the fourth-place team from Group A in the quarter-finals.
With the tournament's medal round starting Thursday, the Canadians used Monday night's game as a tuneup.
Nashville defenceman Ryan Ellis saw his first action since joining Canada after the Predators were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. He was paired with Ryan Murray and played the right point on the first power-play unit.
Vancouver Canucks defenceman Ben Hutton was scratched for the first time in the tournament to make room for Ellis. Hutton was on the bench for Canada's 5-0 win over Slovakia on Saturday night but didn't play a shift.
Ellis picked up his first point of the tournament as time expired on a second-period power play, getting an assist when Matt Duchene slid a goalmouth rebound past French netminder Ronan Quemener to give Canada a 2-0 lead.
Mark Stone opened the scoring on a first-period power play with his third goal of the tournament, converting a nice give-and-go from Taylor Hall and Connor McDavid with a wrist shot from the slot. Mark Scheifele and Corey Perry added insurance goals in the third.
Ellis also gave the French team a penalty shot opportunity at the 1:33 mark of the second period when he slashed forward Jordann Perret on the wrist, but shooter Charles Bertrand failed to get the puck on the net.
Goaltender Cam Talbot, who played four of Canada's first five games, was given the day off. Pickard was solid in relief as he faced a number of point-blank opportunities during the first 40 minutes, when the speedy French forwards generated a number of breakaway chances.
Quemener kept France in the game with 42 saves.
In Group A action in Moscow, the host Russians recorded their fifth straight victory with a 3-0 win over Norway to move into a tie with the Czech team for first place with 15 points.
Later games on Monday will see Denmark play Kazakhstan in Moscow while the Germans, who have already clinched their first quarter-final berth in five years, will wrap up their preliminary-round schedule against Hungary.
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