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MALMO, Sweden -- Anthony Mantha looked more relieved than jubilant after his three goals helped Canada start the world junior championship with a victory. jerseys from china . It may be because there had been doubts the Longueuil, Que., native would make the team -- despite lighting up the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this season -- because of his questionable defensive play. No one doubted his ability to put the puck in the net, as Mantha demonstrated with a hat trick in Canadas 7-2 win over Germany on Thursday. "Its a great feeling," the lanky, six-foot-four right winger said. "For me, personally, I had to get a big game going and I think thats what I did." It helped that Mantha was on a line with perhaps Canadas most dynamic playmaker in Jonathan Drouin, who assisted on all three of his goals -- two on power plays and one at even strength. But Mantha, the grandson of former NHL forward Andre Pronovost, scores wherever he plays. He had 35 goals in only 32 games with the Val dOr Foreurs before joining Team Canada two weeks ago for the run-up to the world juniors. He has 85 goals in 99 games over the last season and a half. Coach Brent Sutter said what clinched his spot was that ability to put the puck in the net, which there is not a lot of on this squad compared to past world junior teams. Sutter hopes a crash course in 200-foot hockey will make the Detroit Red Wings prospect a more complete player as the tournament goes on. "He can score goals, but there are other aspects of his game he needs to continue to work on," said Sutter. "Things Ive talked to him about one on one. "Its simple. Its being a competitor in all three zones and making sure hes responsible in all three zones. Not just for this tournament, but for him to be a good pro. Especially with the organization hell go to in Detroit. Thats what they expect there. You cant just play the offensive side of the puck." Sutter said Mantha wants to learn and feels he is already "a better player now than when he joined the team 11 days ago. That comes from our conversations. He understands that hes not going to get on the ice if hes only going to be a power-play guy." He got a passing grade in two-way play against the Germans, who were overmatched but took advantage of some early Canadian sloppiness to keep the score close through the first 15 minutes of play. Mantha has a remarkably quick release for a big man, and having the clever Drouin laying passes on his stick could be a vital asset as the tournament moves on and the competition gets tougher. He said his grandfather, who scored 109 goals in 556 NHL games from 1957 to 1968 for Montreal, Boston, Detroit and the Minnesota North Stars, was a key influence in his hockey development. He said Pronovost taught him "three key points" to success, but wont reveal them all. "One is work," he offered. But he still went into the teams selection camp two weeks ago in Toronto looking to prove he can do more than score. "For sure I had to make an impression," he said. "Not every player was guaranteed a spot and I had to battle through it. I got great news and now Im trying to carry it on." Drouin has played with Mantha before in an exhibition series and feels that chemistry is developing. "Anthonys a big guy," said the third overall pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning. "Hes hard to play against in the corners and everything. I try to use my hands and speed and I think we complement each other pretty well." The Canadian team got a rousing welcome from the crowd of 1,831 -- nearly all wearing Hockey Canada jerseys -- at the 5,800-seat Isstadion, but still looked nervous as the game began. The Germans got the opening goal off a faceoff in the Canada zone as Dorian Saeftel put a shot through traffic that fooled goalie Jake Paterson only 1:35 into the game. After Josh Anderson and Mantha gave Canada a lead, Janik Moser tied it for Germany after defenceman Adam Pelech whiffed on a clearing attempt. Then Canada took over as Mantha and Bo Horvat got goals before the intermission, Sam Reinhart and Mantha added goals in the second period and Nic Petan finished a play engineered by 16-year-old Conner McDavid in the third. McDavid had two assists, while his linemate Reinhart also had two points. Their line with Horvat could have had several if not for some fine saves by Shawinigan Cataractes goalie Marvin Cupper. "I think I played pretty well," said McDavid. "I missed a whole bunch of chances that Im pretty embarrassed about, but I thought I played an all right game. "That shift where Bo and Reino set me up for a couple of breakaways and the goalie made a couple of good saves -- I was beating myself up pretty good about it, but they laid off me. They were good about it." The shots were 30-24 for Canada, but the game was not nearly that close. A tougher test comes Saturday when Canada plays its second group stage game against the Czech Republic. Notes: Defenceman Griffin Reinhart sat out the first of three games he will miss due to a suspension incurred at last years world juniors. . . Germany has six players from Canadian junior teams, including Prince Albert star Leon Draisaitl who had a mostly quiet game, and another six who play in the U.S. . . Canada has its second youngest team ever at 18 years 10 months 25 days. Only the 1987 team that was disqualified after a brawl with the Soviets was younger. wholesale nfl jerseys . Brendan Rodgers team had won its first three games and a fourth consecutive victory would have marked the clubs best start ever in the Premier League. But Michus second-half equalizer ruined Liverpools plans after goals from Daniel Sturridge and Victor Moses had given the visitors a 2-1 lead following Jonjo Shelveys opener.cheap nfl jerseys . Ecclestone said at the beginning of a four-hour personal statement read out in German by his lawyers that he was "grateful" to be able to give his side of the story -- though he told judges that he would answer questions from the Munich state court through his lawyers, rather than personally.(SportsNetwork.com) - Just when the sun brightens a bit for the Vancouver Canucks, it is followed up with a torrential downpour. The Canucks will be without their leading goal scorer for the rest of their road trip, one that resumes on Friday night against the Washington Capitals. Wednesday should have been a night that left the Canucks feeling good about themselves. They snapped a seven-game road losing streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets in the opener of a four-game swing and saw forward Alexandre Burrows net his first two goals of the season. Of course, the good came with the bad as Ryan Kesler left in the game following a knee-on-knee collision and went back to Vancouver for further tests. It is not known how long he will be out, but head coach John Tortorella did admit that Kesler will not play for the rest of this trip, one that includes games versus the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Kesler was mentioned in a number of trade rumors before last weeks deadline, but the Canucks did not pull the trigger on a deal to move the forward, who has 22 goals on the season. Keslers 40 points are tied with Daniel Sedin, currently out with a strained left hamstring, and one back of Henrik Sedin for the team lead. Minus the forward, Eddie Lack made 32 saves through overtime before stopping all three skaters he faced in the shootout. Vancouver then earned the extra point on Chris Higgins third-round tally. "We lose (Kesler) before the third and we get down, so yeah, I thought we played hard right on through. And thats two out of the last three games that we have played well in the third period, so good for them," Tortorella said. "Theyve hung in there, theyve hung together. Losing a big guy like (Kesler), I thought they stuck together as a group. It was really nice to see." So was the production from Burrows, who scored his first goals since April 15 of last year. That gave him a gap of 40 games between goals in the regular season. "It was one of those nights it seemed the puck was finding me around the net," said Burrows, who hadnt scored a goal in his first 35 games of the season. "I had aa lot of chances. wholesale jerseys. Honestly, I think I had four real good looks." Vancouver picked up its first road win since Jan. 21 in Edmonton and sits four points back of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Lack, meanwhile, rebounded after giving up six third-period goals in a 7-4 setback to the visiting New York Islanders on Monday and is likely to face Washington tonight for the first time. The Capitals are looking to put their own struggles behind them as they were just swept in a home-and-home set by the Pittsburgh Penguins. That gave the club five losses in its past six games and Washington sits three points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. After losing a 3-2 decision at home on Monday, the Capitals were blanked 2-0 in Pittsburgh the following night. Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves, but the Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 32 shots he faced. "We were on our heels the whole first period, no question," said Capitals coach Adam Oates. "We turned it over too many times -- probably a little hangover from (Monday) night." Evgeny Kuznetsov failed to record a point in the two games, the first of his NHL career after signing an entry-level deal on Saturday. He was the 26th overall pick of the 2010 draft and the Russian-born forward had been playing in the Kontinental Hockey League. It has also been a rough few games for Caps forward Alex Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 44 goals but does not have a point in his past four games. He is a minus-4 over that span. Halak, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres before the trade deadline, started both games versus the Penguins and is 4-3-1 lifetime with a 2.12 goals against average versus the Canucks. Fellow Washington netminder Braden Holtby has never faced them. The Capitals have lost four straight and nine of their last 10 meetings with the Canucks, including a 3-2 setback in Vancouver on Oct. 26. The Canucks have won four of their last five trips to Washington and are eligible to have forward Zack Kassian back in the lineup tonight. He finished serving a three-game suspension for a hit-from-behind versus Dallas last Thursday. ' ' ' |
