Macklin Celebrini delivered a statement performance with a goal and three assists as Canada rolled to a 6-1 win over France in pre-tournament action at the IIHF world championship.
Celebrini factored in four of Canada’s six goals after being named captain Sunday morning.
Canada opened the scoring at 5:16 of the first period when Parker Wotherspoon buried a chance off assists from Robert Thomas and Sam Dickinson. France answered midway through the opening frame on a goal from Guillaume Leclerc to tie the game at 1-1.
Dylan Holloway restored the lead early in the second period off assists from Dylan DeMelo and Mathew Barzal.
Celebrini continued his big offensive day with assists on goals by Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi. Celebrini then added a goal of his own later in the period off assists from Vilardi and Scheifele to extend the lead to 5-1.
In the third period, Celebrini added another helper on a power-play goal by John Tavares to cap off his four-point night.
Vilardi and Scheifele had three points each while Tavares added a goal and an assist.
Canada received a strong performance in goal from Jet Greaves, who stopped 24 of 25 shots in the win. France made a goaltending change midway through the second period with Martin Neckar being pulled for Antoine Keller.
Canada also had notable players unavailable for the game, with Evan Bouchard, Darnell Nurse, Ryan O’Reilly and Cam Talbot listed as scratches.