Canada Defeat the French to Stay Undefeated

Canada will look to finish off their perfect round robin against Finland on Tuesday after beating France 4-0 on Monday afternoon.

France may not be on the same level as Canada on the hockey stage, but that doesn't mean they don't put in a good effort when they meet up with the top ranked hockey nation. Last year, Ronan Quemener made Canada's life tough in a 4-3 loss, only to have Cristobal Huet lead France to a victory the year before that.

But that didn't stop Canada from getting the first goal of the game, Damien Fleury had the first real chance, getting stopped on the breakaway with about half the period to go, but Mark Stone was the one who would get the opening marker. Connor McDavid did a good job of getting into the offensive zone before dropping the puck off to Taylor Hall. Hall then made a slick pass to Stone in the slot, who fired the wrist shot past Quemener and in for the 1-0 lead at the 8:31 mark of the first.


Where is the puck, Quemener? Photo: Ing. Vladimír Koláček

Canada didn't really dominate in the second, something they were looking to do before their match-u- against Finland on Tuesday. Newcomer Ryan Ellis was a culprit for slashing just a minute into the game, resulting in a penalty shot opportunity by Charles Bertrand. Bertrand's attempt wasn't overly threatening, with him unable to tie the game back up at one.

Canada has been strong on the power play all tournament long, but even though they scored because of the man advantage, they didn't score their second goal on the man advantage. Ryan Ellis shot the puck towards the net with about four minutes left, only to get stopped by Quemener. Corey Perry then took a stab at the puck, but it would be Matt Duchene who hit the puck in just as the power play expired to take the 2-0 lead for Canada.

Canada would walk away with the game in the third period. Brad Marchand made a pass to Stone three minutes into the third, with the Senators forward being unable to score. Mark Scheifele was in a perfect spot to get the rebound, however, ripping the rebound in from the hashmarks to give Canada the 3-0 lead. With six minutes left in the game, Corey Perry added to Canada's total, taking the 4-0 lead and the victory in the process.

Canada will look to win Group B when they meet up with Finland in what should be the top game to watch on Tuesday. France will look for bragging rights in their final game on Tuesday against Belarus, as their quarter-final hopes were dashed with the loss.

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