World juniors: Canadians double up defending champs in final tourney tuneup

OSTRAVA, CZECH REPUBLIC—Nolan Foote scored twice and assisted on another as Canada’s junior men’s hockey team beat Finland, 4-2, in exhibition play Monday.

Ty Dellandrea and Kevin Bahl also scored for Canada after Finland had tied it at 2-2 with a pair of goals early in the third. Alexis Lafreniere got two assists for the Canadians, who outshot Finland 32-16.

“The Finns are a strong team. We made some mistakes and the puck ended up in the back of our net,” Canada head coach Dale Hunter said. “We had some good looks tonight by every line, and the (defence) was moving the puck quickly. We need to be sharp in this tournament and we’re moving in that direction.”

Canada finished pre-world junior championship action at 2-0 after wins over Switzerland and reigning tournament champ Finland. The Finns beat Canada in the quarterfinals last year in Vancouver en route to gold.

Joonas Oden and Patrik Puistola beat Canada goalie Joel Hofer for Finland’s goals.

Hofer replaced Nico Daws midway through the second. Justus Annunen and Kari Piiroinen split goaltending duties for Finland.

“I thought we responded really well when the Finns came out hard in the third,” Bahl said. “You could sense some urgency from the guys and we held them off to get the win.”

Canada opens the world juniors on Thursday against the United States. Finland also begins play on Boxing Day, facing Sweden.