Max Domi with a hat trick as Canada blanks Switzerland in final tune-up game

MONTREAL - Max Domi scored a hat trick to lead Canada to a 6-0 victory over Switzerland on Tuesday in the final pre-tournament game before the start of the junior world championship.

Domi scored twice in 13 seconds in the second period before completing his hat trick midway through the third. Brayden Point, Jake Virtanen and Nick Ritchie also scored for Canada, which went 2-0-1 in its three exhibition matches.

Goalie Zach Fucale made 14 saves for the shutout.

Netminder Ludovic Waeber stopped 37 of 43 shots for Switzerland, which finished 0-2-0 in its exhibition games.

The 11-day world junior event, which takes place in Toronto and Montreal, opens on Boxing Day.

Canada outscored its opponents 12-4 through three pre-tournament tune-up games.

With Canada already up 1-0, Domi scored his first of the evening on the power play at 15:46 of the second period. The Swiss defencemen gave Domi far too much time with the puck, as the 19-year-old skated towards the net with ease and found an opening between Waeber's pads.

With the Bell Centre public address announcer still belting out the details of Domi's goal, the Arizona Coyotes prospect quickly made it 3-0 for Canada as he deflected home a pass from Montreal-born Anthony Duclair.

Canada scored a fourth goal 40 seconds after that — its third in 53 seconds.

Domi, son of retired NHLer Tie Domi, scored his third of the evening at 8:16 of the third period with a sharp wrist shot from the face-off circle.

Getting the start in Canada's final exhibition game means Fucale will likely get the nod over backup goaltender Eric Comrie when Canada's tournament officially gets underway versus Slovakia on Dec. 26.

Fucale had little to do against the Swiss in the first period, as the Laval, Que. native faced only two shots in the opening 20 minutes.

Canada flexed its muscles from the get-go— and hardly let up— outshooting Switzerland 14-2 after the first period.

Things could have been much worse for the Swiss early on. Despite the double-digit shot count at the first intermission, Canada's best chances were shots that missed the target. Fourth-liner Frederik Gauthier missed a couple of wide-open nets in the first, and so did forwards Nic Petan and Nick Paul.

The Canadians got the breakthrough they thoroughly deserved at 13:34 of the first after Point completed a nice tic-tac-toe play. With teams playing 4-on-4 hockey, defencemen Josh Morrissey and Madison Bowey combined with Point for a pretty finish.

The Swiss pushed back in the second, largely on the back of three consecutive penalties to Canada. Switzerland threatened, especially on a brief 5-on-3, but couldn't solve Fucale.

That's when Domi and Virtanen combined for three goals in less than a minute to put the game out of Switzerland's reach.

Besides Domi, Canada's Duclair was consistently the most threatening player on the ice. The New York Ranger weaved his way through defenceman with bursts of speed and fancy stick work on more than one occasion. He finished the game with three assists — all three coming on Domi's goals.

Notes: After their game against Slovakia, the Canadians welcome Germany to the Bell Centre (Dec. 27), Finland (Dec. 29), and finally the United States (Dec. 31) in group-stage action. … After Canada's round-robin matches, its tournament moves to Toronto for the knockout phase. … The final will be played Jan. 5 at the Air Canada Centre.