By Canadian Press

Canada forward Steven Stamkos finally gets a goal at World Cup of Hockey

Sep 27, 2016 | 8:00 PM

TORONTO — Steven Stamkos is one of the NHL’s most prolific scorers, but the World Cup of Hockey has not been as kind to the Team Canada forward.

He finally ended his long scoring drought Tuesday night in a 3-1 win over Team Europe.

Stamkos one-timed a Ryan Getzlaf pass to give Canada a two-goal lead midway through the first period. He had been held without a goal in seven previous games — including three pre-tournament contests — until beating Jaroslav Halak.

“It was a little frustrating but I knew if the chances kept coming that eventually they were going to go in,” Stamkos said. “It’s nice to get one in a game of this magnitude.”

Playing with Getzlaf and John Tavares, Stamkos has had his chances throughout the tournament. He had an assist in the round-robin opener but had been held without a point since.

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Stamkos scored with his only shot of the game. He has 14 shots in the tournament.

“Everyone goes through some stretches like this,” Stamkos said before the game. “It’s nice to play on a team that other guys can step up — it doesn’t matter what line — and score goals.”

The 26-year-old native of Markham, Ont., scored 23 goals in his rookie year with the Tampa Bay Lightning and added 51 goals the following season. Stamkos had 60 goals in the 2011-’12 campaign.

A two-time winner of the Maurice Richard Trophy, Stamkos has cracked the 40-goal mark in four of his eight NHL seasons and has 312 goals in 569 career regular-season games. Only Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has tallied more often (362) since Stamkos made his NHL debut.

Game 2 in the best-of-three final goes Thursday night at Air Canada Centre.

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Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press