Teenage sensation Gavin McKenna scored late in the first period and Carter George made 31 saves for the shutout as Canada picked up a 4-0 victory over Finland in the host country’s opener at the world junior hockey championship Thursday.
Easton Cowan, Luca Pinelli and Matthew Schaefer, into the empty net, had the other goals for the Canadians, who are looking to build on a record 20 gold medals after finishing a disastrous fifth at last year’s tournament in Sweden.
Petteri Rimpinen stopped 37 shots in taking the loss.
Canada and Finland are in Group A along with the United States, Germany and Latvia. The Americans thumped the Germans 10-4 earlier Thursday.
Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Kazakhstan make up Group B.
Canada was bounced in the quarterfinals some 12 months ago at an event that saw the hockey powerhouse stunningly unable to raise its level on the big stage despite fervent support from 3,000-plus travelling fans.
The under-20 program’s brain trust went back to the drawing board for the 2025 showcase, intent on building a different type of roster on home soil. The word “competitive” has been a buzz word since the group first got together in the nation’s capital earlier this month for selection camp.
While far from perfect, there was plenty to like in a professional, curtain-raising performance.
McKenna opened the scoring with 51.4 seconds remaining in an opening period that saw Canada carry a decided territorial edge.
The just-turned-17-year-old from Whitehorse — the youngest player on Canada’s roster and the projected No. 1 pick at the 2026 NHL draft — outwaited Rimpinen and roofed his own rebound before being mobbed by teammates inside a raucous Canadian Tire Centre.
Cowan doubled the lead at 5:22 of the second off a turnover when the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect from Mount Brydges, Ont., ripped a shot past Rimpinen after Ethan Gauthier and Caden Price were both denied on earlier chances as Canada upped its forecheck and physical play.
George didn’t have a ton to do at the other end to that point, but the Thunder Bay, Ont., product had to be sharp on a few Finnish shots, including one by Emil Pieniniemi from in tight late in the period.
The Los Angeles Kings prospect then held the fort on a penalty kill early in third with a great save off Benjamin Rautiainen.
Pinelli put the game out of reach with 4:46 left after some terrific work by Price. George then stopped all seven shots on a late Finnish power play with their goaltender on the bench. Schaefer added the empty netter in the final minute to seal it.
U.S. 10, Germany 4
Defenceman Cole Hutson had five assists as the United States opened defence of its gold medal with a resounding 10-4 win over Germany.
James Hagens had two goals and two assists, while Gabe Perreault and Brodie Ziemer also scored twice for the Americans, who are considered among the favourites in Ottawa.
Trevor Connelly, Brandon Svoboda, Carey Terrance and Cole Eiserman also scored for the Americans.
Julius Sumpf, David Lewandowski, Lenny Boos and Timo Ruckdaschel scored for Germany.
Trey Augustine made 18 saves for the U.S., while a busy Nico Pertuch stopped 46 shots.
Germany plays Finland on Friday, while the U.S. has a day off before facing Latvia on Saturday.
Sweden 5, Slovakia 2
Earlier, defenceman Axel Sandin Pellikka scored a natural hat trick as Sweden kicked off the tournament with a 5-2 rout of Slovakia.
Sandin Pellikka, a Detroit Red Wings prospect playing in his third world juniors, added an assist for Sweden, which is looking for its first title since 2012.
Rasmus Bergqvist and Linus Eriksson had the other goals for Sweden.
Dalibor Dvorsky had a goal just under 12 minutes into the game to open the scoring for Slovakia, which was then held without a goal until Daniel Jencko scored on a power play with 85 seconds left in regulation.
Sweden plays Kazakhstan and Slovakia meets Switzerland on Friday.
Czech Republic 5, Switzerland 1
Hoping to improve on last year’s bronze medal, the Czech Republic jumped out to a promising start with a 5-1 win over Switzerland.
Miroslav Holinka, Eduard Sale, Ondrej Kos, Jakub Stancl and Petr Sikora scored for the winners, who received a two-assist effort from Tomas Galvas.
Leo Braillard scored a third-period goal for Switzerland, which was outshot 35-26.
The Czechs led 1-0 after the first period and took a 3-0 lead into the third.
The Czech Republic has the day off Friday then faces Kazakhstan on Saturday. Switzerland plays Slovakia on Friday.