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There was definitely some rust that needed to be shaken off at Rogers Place on Wednesday afternoon.
Team Canada started their rescheduled World Juniors with a 5-2 win over Latvia, but it was a much closer scoreline than you’d expect between the two teams.
But it wasn’t a major surprise given that many of Canada’s top end players had not played a competitive game in more than three months.
GAME OVER! Off to a good start. 🇨🇦🇱🇻
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) August 11, 2022
📊 https://t.co/95YmjYvBGq
📜 https://t.co/0UOpAkaUGo#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/sfeCdwoiqX
The most notable player on the ice all night was budding superstar Connor Bedard, who opened the scoring in the first period with a wicked wrist shot.
Despite being heavily outshot in the first, Latvia managed to tie the game at one before the end of the opening frame thanks to a goal by Rainers Darzins.
Against all odds, the game was still tied as the game passed the midway mark in the second period, but Canada took advantage of some silly Latvian penalties to blow things open after that.
Lukas Cormier, Olen Zellweger and Ridly Greig all scored in the latter half of the second, with Greig’s tally coming on a beautiful shorthanded effort that saw him poke the puck in with one hand.
Frame by frame. 🇨🇦🇱🇻#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/3xYqrPrPpq
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) August 11, 2022
Bogdans Hodass would cut the lead to 4-2 in the third, but William Dufour put the game on ice with just over five minutes left to play to secure Canada’s 5-2 victory.
"I know a coach is never happy with the game, but considering the time of year and where we’re at in this tournament, I think it was good," said head coach Dave Cameron after the final horn sounded.
Next up for Canada is Slovakia, who played a wild opening game against Czechia that resulted in a 5-4 loss, at 3 pm today.