Canada defeats Finland, 3-1, in WJC exhibition

So what did we learn from Canada's 3-1 exhibition victory over Finland on Monday?

For starters, no Canadian player wore the 'C', although forwards Devante Smith-Pelly and Jaden Schwartz and defenseman Brandon Gormley all wore the 'A'.

Team Canada goalie Mark Visentin

Team Canada received goals from Boone Jenner (Columbus Blue Jackets) of the Oshawa Generals, Mark Stone (Ottawa Senators) of the Brandon Wheat Kings and Brendan Gallagher (Montreal Canadiens) of the Vancouver Giants while goalie Mark Visentin (Phoenix Coyotes) of the Niagara IceDogs earned the victory behind 22 saves. The Canadians will next play Switzerland in a pre-tournament matchup on Thursday.

Teemu Pulkkinen (Detroit Red Wings) of Jokerit scored the lone goal for Finland.

Canada coach Don Hay had just 11 forwards to work with since wings Jonathan Huberdeau (foot) and Quinton Howden (concussion symptoms) were sidelined by injuries. As a result, Jenner and Michael Bournival (Colorado Avalanche) of the Shawinigan Cataractes played both center and on the wing during the game.

"I thought we were a little bit nervous at the start," Hay said. "I thought we stuck with it and got better. That's a real good sign. I thought Mark Visentin played really solid for us and as the game went on, he made some real big saves for us."

Canada was held scoreless on four power-play chances while the Finns scored a power-play goal on their only opportunity in the game after defenseman Ryan Murray (2012 draft eligible) was whistled for interference at 14:01 of the first period. Murray would atone for the penalty when he assisted on Jenner's game-tying goal 6:16 into the second. Stone converted feeds from Schwartz and Freddie Hamilton at the 12:35 mark of the second to give Canada a 2-1 edge.

Gallagher's goal came off a feed from Michael Bournival with 1:39 left in the third.

WJC Note: Germany earned promotion to the 2013 WJC in Ufa, Russia, by winning the second-tier men's junior championship.

Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mike_morreale

Back to top