France Says Goodbye to Huet and Meunier in Win Over Slovenia

France has finished their 2017 World Hockey Championship tournament with a 4-1 victory over Slovenia.

With two of their best players finishing off their careers, Cristobal Huet and Laurent Meunier, France wanted to send out their two stars out in style on home ice to complete the tournament. In a packed house in Paris, the team scored the first goal of the game at 28:20 when Antoine Roussel tipped in a shot from Yohann Auvitu in close to make it 1-0 for the home team, allowing the crowd to start the celebration.

Three minutes later, they scored again. This time, Auvitu would get one of own after Pierre-Édouard Bellemare danced around the scoring zone and dumped the puck to Auvitu at the high slot, with the defenceman sending the shot on net and giving France the 2-0 lead.

Auvitu was having himself a night, scoring the third goal of the game on the power play to make it 3-0. At 4:01, Auvitu's shot was sent towards the net and Roussel was used as a screen in front, tipping in the puck to give France the three-goal advantage.

But 24 seconds later, Slovenia scored while shorthanded. Ales Music kept the play alive in the defensive zone before sending the puck out to Jan Mursak on the breakaway. Musak would outlast a Damien Fleury back check before squeaking it between Huet's legs, making 3-1. Slovenia wouldn't score again, but Roussel would complete the hat-trick to win the game and finish the tournament for the French.

The win acted as a tremendous send-off for Huet and Meunier, who will finish their career with the French national team after long careers with the team. France came just one point short of making the quarter-finals, a disappointing end to an inspiring tournament for ice hockey in France. 

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