“I think we played pretty well. Sometimes when you play with Italy you don’t know what to expect. They worked hard. They didn’t let us in, but then we made some adjustments that helped. We had 90 percent of the puck time under control.” which is positive, “said star striker Mathew Barzal, who competed for Canada for the first time.
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Mercer got in the first significant chance in the 7th minute, but the Italian goalkeeper Fazio performed a good intervention. The Canadians gradually cut off the gas and the opponent punished them for their passivity. Pietroniro’s counterattack was impressive and was only stopped by a shocking foul.
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Hannoun got another big opportunity, but goalkeeper Driedger held Canada. Overseas players equalized when Fazio failed to stop Sanheim’s lightly dotted shot from the blue line.
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“When you play two matches in 24 hours, it’s challenging. We wanted to build on Saturday’s third period and I think we did it. We scored a goal, which gave us a lot of energy,” said Italian striker Alex Petan, who was born in Canada and knows Barzal well. “We have two difficult matches behind us, from which we will learn and build on what was good,” Petan said, pointing to Tuesday’s duel with Denmark.
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In the second period, the Canadians created constant pressure and also scored. First scored after the demonstration run Anderson, then Roy scored among the shooters and Fazia overcame Johnson after the demonstration combination, in which the star striker Barzal, who played for the first time, also took part in the tournament. Mercer also took the puck behind the goal line, but the main referee, who interrupted the game prematurely, ruined his joy.
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Canada was able to finish the match in peace and increase its victory even more. In the 43rd minute, Mayo made another shot from the blue line. Gregor’s break closed the goal.
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| Hockey World Championship: |
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| Group A (Helsinki): |
| Italy – Canada 1: 6 (1: 1, 0: 3, 0: 2) |
| Goals and recordings: 13. Pietroniro (McNally, Frigo) – 16. Sanheim (Severson, J. Anderson), 29. J. Anderson (Mayo, Lowry), 36. N. Roy (Dubois, Graves), 38. K. Johnson (Chabot, Barzal), 43. Mayo (Comtois, Mercer), 55. Gregor (Mercer). Judges: Dehaen (Fr.), Hansen (Nor.) – Beresford (Brit.), Zunde (LVA). Exclusion: 1: 4. No use. Weakening: 0: 1. Attendance: 2616. |
| Itálie: Fazio – Miglioranzi, Pietroniro, Spornberger, Di Perna, Glira, Gios, Casetti – Sanna, S. Kostner, Petan – Frank, Mantenuto, Mantinger – McNally, Hannoun, Frigo – Deluca, D. Kostner, Traversa – Insam. Trenér: Greg Ireland. |
| Kanada: Driedger – Whitecloud, Chabot, Sanheim, Severson, Holden, Mayo, Graves – N. Roy, Cozens, Dubois – Lowry, Sillinger, J. Anderson – Barzal, Batherson, K. Johnson – Comtois, Mercer, Gregor – Geekie. Trenér: Claude Julien. |
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