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Canada blanks U.S. 3-0, finishes first in Group A at hockey world championship

May 21, 2019 | 2:35 PM

KOSICE, Slovakia — Kyle Turris had a goal and an assist as Canada finished off preliminary play at the world hockey championship with a 3-0 win over the United States on Tuesday.

Canada finished at the top of the Group A standings with 18 points from six regulation wins and one regulation loss. The Canadians have won six straight since opening with a 3-1 loss to Finland.

Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jared McCann also scored for Canada, while Matt Murray picked up the shutout in goal.

Cory Schneider took the loss in goal for the Americans, who finished fourth in the group with 14 points (4-1-1) behind Canada, Finland and Germany.

Canada took charge early in the game, with Dubois scoring one minute 49 seconds after the opening faceoff. Mark Stone came out from behind the American goal and fed Dubois with a pass to set up the opening goal.

Turris put Canada up 2-0 just over seven minutes later when Anthony Mantha caused a turnover in the Canadian zone and skated up the wing before feeding Canada’s captain with a pass.

McCann put Canada up 3-0 15 minutes into the second period when he took a pass from Turris and ripped a shot past Schneider.

Canada will face Switzerland, which finished fourth in Group B, in the quarterfinals.

The Canadian Press