MacKenzie Weegar scored and added two assists as Canada beat Slovenia 5-2 on Sunday at the men’s world hockey championship in Riga, Latvia.
Michael Carcone, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, and Milan Lucic also scored for Canada (2-0-0) and Jack McBain added a goal and an assist.
“We keep talking about how we want to get better every day,” said head coach André Tourigny. “We were able to accomplish a lot in terms of our structure, which is something we need to continue to improve.
“We had a few important penalty kills where we were strong on the forecheck, so that was good to see.”
Goalie Devon Levi made 22 saves for the win in net as Canada outshot Slovenia 51-24.
WATCH | Unbeaten Canada rides 3-goal 2nd period to victory:
Minutes after getting robbed on the doorstep, Milan Lucic scored his first Team Canada goal, the eventual game-winner over Slovenia.
Jan Drozg had two goals, one coming on the power play, for Slovenia (0-2-0). Luka Gracnar stopped 46 shots in net.
“Today was a bit up and down with a strong finish from our group, but this tournament is a long journey and we still have a lot of games left,” said Tourigny.
The Canadians will try to start the international tournament with three-straight wins as they face Slovakia on Monday.
Bonino paces U.S. attack
Elsewhere, the United States had to come from a goal down to outclass newcomer Hungary 7-1 for its second win.
Nick Bonino scored two goals for the Americans and Rocco Grimaldi had a goal and two assists in their Group A game at Nokia Arena in Tampere.
Americans Alex Tuch and Nick Bonino responded to Istvan Sofron’s goal to come back into the game in the opening period.
Bonino added his second in the middle period on a power play and Cutter Gauthier made it 4-1 with a shot between the pads of goaltender Dominik Horvath.
Connor Mackey, Grimaldi and Luke Tuch finished the scoring with a goal each in the third period.
The United States next faces Germany on Monday while Canada plays Slovakia.
In the remaining games later on Sunday, France faced Denmark and Sweden played Austria in Group A, while it’s Switzerland vs. Norway and the Czech Republic vs. Kazakhstan in Group B.
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