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Quick Hits: Worlds, Morin and More

May 14, 2017, 9:42 AM ET [84 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
QUICK HITS: MAY 14, 2017

1) Team Canada let a 2-0 lead slip away and lost in overtime to Switzerland, 3-2, in preliminary round action at the IIHF World Championships on Saturday. Travis Konecny (12:34 TOI, three shots on goal) assisted on the second Canada goal as the Canadians built an early 2-0 lead on tallies by Ryan O'Reilly and Mitch Marner. Claude Giroux (15:19 TOI, five shots on goal) had a chance to win the game in OT but partially lost control of the puck and couldn't finish an improvised backhander. Late in regulation, both Wayne Simmonds (11:53 TOI, one shot) and Brayden Schenn (8:45 TOI, one shot) had quick-succession cracks at a go-ahead goal near the net but could not poke home the puck. Sean Couturier (15:13 TOI) ended up a minus-two in the game, including a hard luck minus on Switzerland's stoppable game-winning goal in which goalie Calvin Pickard took himself off his angle and out of position on a fairly sharp angle shot that beat him to the long side as scorer Fabrice Herzog operated one-on-one against a defender in the right circle.

2) Russia breezed to a 6-0 blowout win over Slovakia on Saturday. Ivan Provorov recorded one shot on goal in 18:35 of generally rock-solid play.

3) In Sunday prelim games at the Worlds, the Czech Republic (Jakub Voracek, Radko Gudas) take on tournament Cinderella, Team France (Pierre-Edouard Bellemare). The French team has collected three preliminary round wins, including upsets of Finland and Switzerland, and threw a scare into Canada in a losing effort.

4) Flyers general manager Ron Hextall confirmed to CSN Philadelphia's Tim Panaccio that defense prospect Samuel Morin underwent procedures on both wrists after the Lehigh Valley Phantoms were eliminated from the Calder Cup playoffs. Judging solely by the Instagram photos that Morin posted, however, the procedures seemed to be quite minor. He had a few stitches on each wrist and healing incisions.

With Claude Giroux dual surgeries in 2012, the player sported small casts on both hands in photos taken about the same duration after surgery. For those who have said on social media "Giroux has never been the same since then," here's a reminder that he was a Hart Trophy finalist in 2013-14 and an NHL All-Star in both 2014-15 and 2015-16.
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