Matt Murray of Thunder Bay, Ontario made 28 saves on Tuesday as Canada shutout the United States 3-0 at the 2019 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men’s Hockey Championship in Kosice, Slovakia. With the win, Canada improved to a record of six wins and one loss for 18 points and finished in first place in Group A.
Murray, who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins, made nine saves in the first period, nine saves in the second period and 10 saves in the third period. In four games in the tournament, Murray has a record of three wins, one loss, a goals against average of 2.01 and a save percentage of .921.
Offensively, Team Canada was led in scoring by their captain, Nashville Predators center Kyle Turris of New Westminster, British Columbia, who notched one goal and one assist for two points. The other two Canadian goal scorers were Columbus Blue Jackets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois of Sainte-Agathe-Des-Monts, Quebec and Penguins centre Jared McCann of Stratford, Ontario.
The fact that Canada won Group A was actually a huge surprise. That is because earlier in the day Germany stunned Finland 4-2, which allowed the winner of Canada and the United States to win the pool. Team Canada will now face Switzerland in the quarterfinals. At the 2018 IIHF World Men’s Hockey Championship in Copenhagen, Switzerland shocked Canada 3-2 in the semifinals. The other three quarterfinals have Germany versus the Czech Republic, the United States versus Russia and Finland versus Sweden.
