STOCKHOLM - Marc-Andre Fleury came away with player-of-the-game honours in his world championship debut at 40 years old.
The legendary goalie made 16 saves as Canada routed Latvia 7-1 on Sunday to remain undefeated in two games.
“It was a fun game,” Fleury said. “I had a bit of a tough start, but it was a great time. The Latvian fans were awesome and they were making noise all game long.”
Kent Johnston and Travis Konecny had two goals apiece, while Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini and Barrett Hayton also scored at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
Captain Sidney Crosby added three assists for Canada, which opened the tournament with a 4-0 win over Slovenia on Saturday.
“The boys in front of me scored some big goals and had a lot of blocked shots, so that was a big help,” Fleury said. “This is a great roster and a great group of guys, and our chemistry is already very good.
“Everyone here wants to do well, and we know that goal differential is important in this tournament, so it was nice to get a big win today.”
Fleury, who is set to retire from hockey after the event, made several trademark acrobatic saves in his first start.
The product of Sorel-Tracy, Que., dove across the crease for a save on Latvia’s Dans Locmelis, replicating his famous game-saving stop on Nicklas Lidstrom in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup final that Fleury’s Pittsburgh Penguins would go on to win.
Gustavs Grigals made 30 saves for Latvia.
Eduards Tralmaks opened the scoring at 7:05 of the first period before Canada responded with seven unanswered goals.
Canada head coach Dean Evason liked the way his team bounced back from the early threat.
“(The Latvians) scored early and they played hard, and we knew they were going to play that way,” he said. “We are happy with the way we responded to that early goal. We know teams are going to give us their best, so it is a good lesson for us to learn that we need to be ready for every team we play.”
Canada continues round-robin play Tuesday against France.
Konecny said the Canadians are aiming for gold, but trying to stay focused on one task at a time.
“We know what the end goal (of this tournament) is and what we came here to do, but our group is really good about staying dialed in day-to-day and just focusing on the next game or practice,” said Konecny, who also tallied an assist. “We have incredible leadership in our locker room, so you just kind of put your head down, go to work and follow those guys.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2025.
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