It simply wasn't Canada's night Saturday at Ostravar Arena.
The Canadians suffered a 6-0 blowout loss to Russia in a contest that saw star forward Alexis Lafreniere depart with a knee injury. It was the first time in tournament history the Red and White lost by more than five goals.
Lafreniere injured his left knee in the second period after colliding awkwardly with Russian netminder Amir Miftakhov, who made 28 saves for the shutout victory.
Russia came out firing in the opening frame, taking a 3-0 lead into the first intermission on goals from forwards Alexander Khovanov, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Nikita Rtishchev.
Moments after Lafreniere exited the game, Nikita Alexandrov extended Russia's lead to 4-0, ending Canadian netminder Nico Daws' night. Joel Hofer replaced Daws after the latter allowed four goals on 17 shots.
With Saturday's result, all five teams in Group B are deadlocked through two contests - a first since the group format was introduced in 1996. Canada sits last due to goal differential.
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 3 |
| United States | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 9 | 3 |
| Czech Republic | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| Germany | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 9 | 3 |
| Canada | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 3 |
Canada will look to rebound Monday against Germany before closing out the preliminary round against the host Czech Republic on New Year's Eve.
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