Men’s Worlds Recap: Canada 7, France 1

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice and added an assist as Canada beat France in its final preliminary-round game.

HELSINKI, Finland – Canada’s National Men’s Team has secured its spot in the quarterfinals at the 2022 IIHF World Championship after defeating France 7-1 in its final preliminary-round game on Tuesday.

Pierre-Luc Dubois (Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que./Winnipeg, NHL) led the offence with two goals and an assist.
Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, Y.T./Buffalo, NHL) chipped in with a goal and two helpers.
Eric O’Dell (Ottawa, Ont./Dynamo Moscow, KHL) scored his first IIHF World Championship goal on a breakaway.
Max Comtois (Longueuil, Que./Anaheim, NHL), Zach Whitecloud (Brandon, Man./Vegas, NHL) and Damon Severson (Melville, Sask./New Jersey, NHL) rounded out the scoring.
Drake Batherson (New Minas, N.S./Ottawa, NHL) contributed four assists.
Chris Driedger (Winnipeg, Man./Seattle, NHL) made 15 saves.
Canada outshot France 35-16.

Next Game:

Canada vs. Sweden (quarterfinal) – Thursday, May 26 (9:20 a.m. ET/6:20 a.m. PT)

TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will continue their extensive coverage of the 2022 IIHF World Championship, with TSN broadcasting four quarterfinals, both semifinals, and the bronze and gold medal games. RDS will air two quarterfinals, including Canada’s quarterfinal against Sweden, as well as both semifinals, and the bronze and gold medal games.

Quotes:

“I liked the way we played for the full 60 minutes tonight. We did the things we needed to do and improved on some of the aspects of our game we wanted to focus on. We were moving the puck a lot better, getting more shots and we had net-front traffic, and I am happy with the way our guys responded today. No matter who we were going to match up against in the quarterfinals, we knew we would be getting a tough opponent. We are going to need to be patient against Sweden, but we know we have the character and our players are ready for the challenge.”

- Head coach Claude Julien (Orleans, Ont.) on tonight’s performance and the quarterfinals

“We are happy with the way we played tonight. We do not want to give other teams opportunities to score or expose us defensively, and that was a focus tonight. We do not need to trade scoring chances with other teams all game, but rather limit the scoring chances they get and capitalize on our own. We are confident in our team and the players we have, and we need to play our game and play the right way to have success now that a medal is on the line.”

- Dubois on capitalizing on scoring chances

“It is going to be an amazing game. [Sweden] is obviously a very skilled team and they work hard, and they have some good NHL players. It is going to be a lot of fun, but from our perspective we are scoring some goals and gaining confidence, and that is a key for our success. We are really looking forward to the challenge on Thursday.”

- Cole Sillinger (Regina, Sask./Columbus, NHL) on playing Sweden in the quarterfinals

For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Team, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow through social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.