CANADA OPENS WITH 12-1 ROUT OF SWEDEN AT WORLD-U18’S

FRESNO, Texas – Captain Shane Wright had a hat trick and Brandt Clarke added two goals and two assists as Canada toppled Sweden 12-1 on Tuesday at the under-18 men’s hockey championship.

Wright opened the scoring early in the first before Clarke, Brett Harrison and Francesco Pinelli potted goals in a 2:46 span to blow the game open midway through the period.

Nolan Allan, Ryan Winterton, Mason McTavish, Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven supplied the rest of the offence for Canada (1-0-0), which will face Latvia Wednesday in its second round-robin game. Underage star Connor Bedard netted one assist.

Pinelli tacked on two helpers for a three-point night, while Thomas Milic made 28 saves for the Canadian squad.

Simon Forsmark kept Sweden (1-1-0) from getting blanked.

Carl Lindbom stopped 10-of-14 shots in 13 minutes of action for the Swedes before getting yanked for Viggo Andren, who made 25 saves in relief.

Canada’s 24-man roster includes 23 players from the Canadian Hockey League, with defenceman Corson Ceulemans of the Brooks Bandits junior-A squad being the lone skater not coming out of Canada’s major junior league.

Also on Tuesday, Finland edged Russia 4-3 in a shootout, Belarus downed Switzerland 7-1 and the United States beat Germany 5-3.

(Canadian Press)