So far, so good for Team Canada's quest for a sixth straight gold medal at the World Junior Championships.
Canada won for the second time in this tournament when they trounced Switzerland 6-0 in Saskatoon on Monday. The win came on the heels of a 16-0 win over Latvia on Saturday.
Brandon McMillan of the Kelowna Rockets had a hat trick for Canada, including the opening goal 23 seconds into the game.
"It's pretty high up there," McMillan said about where this hat trick ranks among his hockey memories. "It's a big stage here and I'm playing with great players. They make it easy for me."
It was the second straight game where Canada scored the game-winning goal in the opening minute of the contest.
Despite notching their second straight lop-sided win, McMillan said that the Canadian team still has some things to work on.
"I don't think we played our best game tonight by any stretch," said McMillan, who helped the Rockets win the WHL championship and advance to the final game of the MasterCard Memorial Cup last May in Rimouski, QC. "But I thought we played really well defensively again. We're holding teams to less than 15 shots and got another shutout so I think we're doing a pretty good job."
Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues also scored in the first period. Nazem Kadri of the London Knights and Jordan Eberle of the Regina Pats scored 20 second apart early in the second period. McMillan also scored in the second period and rounded out his hat trick with the only goal of the third period to seal the win.
"When we came out in the third we just wanted to have a strong game, play well defensively and keep our habits right," McMillan said.
Eberle added four assists in the win for a five-point game and was named Canada's player of the game.
Defenceman Ryan Ellis of the Windsor Spitfires chipped in with a pair of assists in the win while Jake Allen of the Montreal Juniors made 15 saves for the shutout - his second in as many games in the Canadian net.
Three of Canada's goals came with the man-advantage.
Canada (2-0) returns to action on Tuesday when they face Slovakia (1-1). Game time is 8:00 p.m. Eastern on TSN. Canada then wraps up the round robin segment of the tournament on New Year's Eve against the U.S.A.
Game Sheet
Photo: HHOF-IIHF Images
