WORLD UNDER-18’S: CANADA 5 BELARUS 2
PLANO, Texas – Shane Wright and Mason McTavish scored two goals apiece as Canada capped a perfect preliminary round with a 5-2 win over Belarus at the world under-18 men’s hockey championship on Saturday.
Olen Zellweger also scored for Canada (4-0), which finished atop the five-team Group A. Underage forward Connor Bedard was held pointless for the first time in the tournament, although he received a two-minute hooking minor in the third period.
Wright, a member of the Kingston Frontenacs, and McTavish, a Peterborough Pete, didn’t play for their normal teams this season as the Ontario Hockey League cancelled its season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wright, the OHL rookie of the year in 2018-19 after being allowed into the league a year early as an exceptional-status player, missed the last two games at the worlds for undisclosed reasons.
Andrei Loshko and Ilya Morozov scored for Belarus, which split its four preliminary-round games.
Canada will face the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals on Monday.
Group B winner Finland meets Switzerland, Sweden squares off with the United States and Russia takes on Belarus in the other quarterfinals.
Canada hasn’t won the tournament since 2013.
(Canadian Press/Photo: Hockey Canada)
