MONTREAL, QC.–Louis Leblanc of Canada and Joonas Nättinen of Finland, both 2009 NHL Entry Draft choices of the Montreal Canadiens, continue to contribute to their respective national junior teams in Buffalo.
On Wednesday night, Canada walloped Norway by a score of 10-1 as Leblanc picked up a goal and a helper in the contest. Team Canada was without Calvin de Haan, Cody Eakin and Jaden Schwartz, missing due to injuries, as well as forward Zack Kassian, serving one of the two games he was suspended by the IIHF for a hit on Czech defender Petr Senkerik the previous night. However, with a six-goal outburst in the first period and an eventual total of 43 shots on net, Canada has now won three games in a row to open the tournament and look to continue their sequence with a real test Friday afternoon against Sweden. The two teams played in a pre-tournament match at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on December 21st, with Canada coming away on top by a score of 4-1.
Meanwhile, in a matchup that at first did not look like an obvious win for Finland, Germany let in five goals, one of which belonged to Joonas Nättinen, as Finland cruised to a 5-1 win. Nättinen tipped in a shot from teammate Tommi Kivisto to open the scoring for the blue-and-white for the second straight game. With the win, Finland has seven points in the tournament, and with one more game played than the United States they currently lead Group A. They next take on the Slovakians on Friday at 12:30 ET.