Crosby’s dominance, Price’s resurgency among the highlights for Canada

TORONTO — Canada rolled over the Czech Republic to open their World Cup of Hockey title defence.

Here are five things we learned from the 6-0 victory:

1. Crosby picking up right where he left off

Oh so dominant for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second half last season, en route to a Conn Smythe-winning performance in the Stanley Cup Final, Crosby was again flying on Saturday evening.

He had the Canadians’ first two shots, scored the first goal, and helped set up the three that followed. 

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Crosby landed the game’s opening marker in wily fashion, whipping a shot off the back of exposed Czech goaltender Michal Neuvirth. He followed that up less than 10 minutes later by setting up Brent Burns, his point shot blast tipped by Brad Marchand. Then to conclude a hearty first frame, Crosby hounded Czech defender Michal Kempny into a turnover that led to a goal from Patrice Bergeron and a 3-0 Canada lead.

It didn’t stop there for Crosby, who found Joe Thornton with a crafty backhand pass on Canada’s fourth goal. Bumped just seconds earlier by a Czech foe, Crosby gathered control of the puck and veered to his right through the slot, dishing to Thornton on his left for the tap-in.

With a hand in four goals, the Canadian captain finished with one marker and two assists, also winning six of his seven faceoffs in 13 minutes.

2. Crosby’s line continues to click

Canada’s best unit in pre-tournament play, Crosby, Bergeron and Marchand were again effective in the preliminary-round opener.

Marchand finished with a goal and two assists, hounding the puck all evening long in just over 14 minutes.

“Obviously he has developed into a real good player,” head coach Mike Babcock said of the 28-year-old. “He plays with great speed and creates turnovers for those guys, and with tenacity.”

Bergeron ended up with a goal, four shots and a 72 per cent winning mark in the face-off circle, including a perfect five-for-five in the offensive zone. 

3. Price looks like Price

Carey Price went nearly 10 months between game action after a knee injury last season, but looks to have quickly regained past form.

Price stopped all 27 shots from the Czechs in a cool and composed performance in the tournament opener. Few rebounds were offered and the 29-year-old was square to most shots. His best save may have been the first — Ondrej Palat redirected a shot just 41 seconds into the first that was turned down by Price. 

“He was just really sharp and like you’ve seen so many times before, he makes those timely saves,” Crosby said of the 2015 Vezina Trophy winner. “He makes difficult saves look pretty easy. He did a great job for us tonight.”

The last time Price allowed a goal for Canada was in the quarter-finals of the 2014 Olympics versus Latvia. He’s posted three consecutive shutouts since then.

4. Subtleties were strong for the Canadians

Start with special teams: Canada scored a pair of power-play goals and stuffed the Czechs on six attempts with the man advantage.

Booming with natural centremen, the Canadians also owned the face-off circle. They won 62 per cent of all draws and an incredible 86 per cent of those in the offensive zone (24-28).

Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews were both 10-17, while John Tavares won 6 of 10. 

Canada outshot the Czechs 50-27 overall and 39-20 at even-strength.

5. Canada ran an even bench

Babcock could afford to roll his lines and pairings in the blowout win.

No Canadian forward played more than 18:29 (Getzlaf) and none played less than 11:06 (Corey Perry). Drew Doughty, meanwhile, topped out the defenders in terms of ice-time at just under 22 minutes. All six defencemen played at least 18 minutes. 

Jonas Siegel, The Canadian Press