Wright scores hat trick in Canada's win over Sweden at Under-18 Championship

Hockey Canada logo. (Frank Gunn/CP)

FRESNO, Texas -- Captain Shane Wright had a hat trick and Brandt Clarke added two goals and two assists as Canada toppled Sweden 12-1 on Tuesday at the under-18 men's hockey championship.

Wright opened the scoring early in the first before Clarke, Brett Harrison and Francesco Pinelli potted goals in a 2:46 span to blow the game open midway through the period.

Nolan Allan, Ryan Winterton, Mason McTavish, Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven supplied the rest of the offence for Canada (1-0-0), which will face Latvia Wednesday in its second round-robin game.

Pinelli tacked on two helpers for a three-point night, while Thomas Milic made 28 saves for the Canadian squad.

"We know we are not going to dominate every game, but I think we followed our systems very well tonight," said Pinelli.

"We need to stick to our game plan, keep playing well and communicating with each other, and that will go a long way. We did that tonight, and we are going to have to continue doing those things game in and game out."

Simon Forsmark kept Sweden (1-1-0) from getting blanked.

Carl Lindbom stopped 10-of-14 shots in 13 minutes of action for the Swedes before getting yanked for Viggo Andren, who made 25 saves in relief.

Canada's 24-man roster includes 23 players from the Canadian Hockey League, with defenceman Corson Ceulemans of the Brooks Bandits junior-A squad being the lone skater not coming out of Canada's major junior league.

Also on Tuesday, Finland edged Russia 4-3 in a shootout, Belarus downed Switzerland 7-1 and the United States beat Germany 5-3.

When submitting content, please abide by our  submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.
We use cookies to improve your experience. Learn More or change your cookie preferences. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the use of cookies.
close