Projected No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna scored his first goal at the World Juniors as Canada leads Denmark 3-0 after the first period of their round-robin matchup at the World Juniors on Monday.
Canada opened the tournament with a 7-5 win over Czechia on Boxing Day and squeaked by Latvia 2-1 in overtime on Saturday.
The Canadians got off to a fast start when McKenna scored just 3:17 and nine seconds into the first power play of the game.
The goal was McKenna’s first of the tournament and he now has a goal and five points in three games.
Canada added to their lead when Tij Iginla found Vancouver Canucks draft pick Braeden Cootes with space in the slot and wired the puck past Denmark netminder Patrick Tiedjen.
Zayne Parekh gave Canada a 3-0 lead less than two minutes after that when his point-shot found its way into the Denmark net. The Calgary Flames prospect now has three goals and four points in three games.
Los Angeles Kings prospect Carter George had a quiet opening period, making one stop while Tiedjen was kept busy, allowing three goals on 15 shots.
Canada was 1-for-1 on the power play and outshot Denmark 15-1. Denmark did not get an opportunity on the man advantage.
Both teams have played two games in this year’s tournament entering Monday’s action and have one more game remaining
Denmark begun the tournament with losses to Finland and Czechia before taking on Canada on Monday. They are in taking part in the tournament’s top division for the first time since 2019.
The Danes take on Latvia on Tuesday, who could be their prime competition to avoid regulation.
A Canadian win against Denmark will put them in prime position to win Group B as they take on Finland on New Year’s Eve to finish the round-robin portion of the competition.