FRIBOURG, Swizterland (AP) — Captain Macklin Celebrini scored and Canada beat Slovakia 5-1 after a four-goal burst in the final period at the ice hockey world championship on Sunday.
Celebrini, John Tavares, Gabriel Vilardi and Ryan O’Reilly all recorded a two point game for a goal and an assist, and Dylan Cozens also scored in Fribourg to help Canada win its sixth straight Group B game.
Canada netminder Jet Greaves stopped 31 shots.
Sidney Crosby set up Cozens to put Canada 1-0 up on a breakaway with 5:32 remaining in the opening period.
It was the fourth goal for Cozens and Crosby’s seventh assist at the tournament.
In the middle period, Kristián Pospíšil tied it 1-1 for Slovakia.
Canada wasted 1:16 of a 5-3 advantage early in the final period but jumped to a 5-1 lead with four goals scored before the midway point.
Vilardi restored a one-goal advantage on a power play 2:14 in the period and Tavares netted a backhand shot 2:40 later.
O’Reilly increased it to 4-1 with a short-handed goal for his fifth at the worlds 7:36 in and 1:45 later Celebrini scored his third in Switzerland from the top of the right circle.
Canada tops Group B with 17 points and faces Czechia (13 points) in its last group-stage game on Tuesday. Slovakia is on 11 points in third.
In Zurich, Finland made it six wins from six by beating Austria 5-2 to join Switzerland atop Group A with both teams on 18 points. Austria remains third on nine.
Britain relegated
Britain’s return to the ice hockey world championship proved short-lived after Latvia blanked the newcomer 6-0.
The sixth straight defeat in Group A means Britain is relegated from the top division with a game left.
Britain returned to the top tier after a one-year absence but has failed to win a single point and scored only four goals and conceded 29 in its six games. Britain, which will play Germany on Monday in their final game, trails second-to-last Hungary by three points but lost their head-to-head encounter 5-0.
Another newcomer, Italy, still has a chance to survive after earning the first point in a 3-2 defeat to Denmark in a shootout in Fribourg.
Italy is two points behind Slovenia in Group B before they face each other on Monday.
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