Wins and losses do not start counting until Saturday at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championships, but Team Canada’s 7-6 exhibition victory over Sweden on Wednesday may be an indicator that the club has enough offense to win their second straight gold medal, but that defense and goaltending will be their chief concern.
Mitch Marner works hard, and finds Virtanen for an easy goal. 4-1 Canada. pic.twitter.com/37TCl2QKwG
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 23, 2015Canada led 5-1 entering the final period on a pair of Jake Virtanen goals and singles from Dylan Strome, Mitchell Stephens and Haydn Fleury, but Sweden responded with five of the next six goals on Mason McDonald to tie it 6-6 late in the third.
2015 Leafs top pick Mitch Marner scored the game-winner on a scramble in front of the net with 3:40 left in regulation, giving his club a 3-0 record in exhibition play prior to their first game of the tournament on Boxing Day against the United States.
The match featured four Toronto Maple Leafs prospects; Marner and 2015 second rounder Travis Dermott, along with Sweden’s William Nylander and Dmytro Timashov, but only Marner showed up on the score sheet, with the winning goal and a nice setup on Virtanen’s second goal.
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