Through three games, Canada is on shaky ground.
It took 120 minutes for the Canadians to score a five-on-five goal against Latvia (OT loss) and Germany (win) at the World Juniors. It bounced off the back boards and in off German goalie Nico Pertuch’s skate.
Read that again. One five-on-five goal in six periods. Five goals in total. Against Latvia and Germany.
And in both games, almost the entire team looked aimless and disorderly, like they didn’t know where to be or how they wanted to play. The shots have been perimeter and the selection has grown increasingly forced.
Their most talented players, the ones who had to make plays for them when they brought so few playmakers, don’t look like themselves. Sam Dickinson, who has dominated the OHL by playing a freewheeling style — sometimes to a fault — looks like a timid shell of himself and like he has been told not to be himself. They brought all of these mobile D and none of them are getting up in the play or killing plays early in the neutral zone, often retreating.
Tonight is a chance to shake up the narrative and the standings.
GO FURTHER
World Juniors Today: Quarterfinals berths on the line, Canada-USA prepare for NYE matchup
