Canada catches fire in third to beat Denmark 5-1, remain perfect at hockey worlds

Canada's Parker Wotherspoon, center, celebrates his goal with Canada's Sidney Crosby, left, and Canada's John Tavares, right, during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group B game between Canada and Denmark, in Fribourg, Switzerland, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

FRIBOURG — Porter Martone had a goal and an assist, Sidney Crosby had four assists and Canada defeated Denmark 5-1 for its third straight win at the ice hockey world championship on Monday.

Gabriel Vilardi, Denton Mateychuk, Ryan O’Reilly and Parker Wotherspoon also scored for Canada, with Macklin Celebrini dishing out two assists.

Nick Olesen had Denmark’s lone goal.

The game was scoreless until Martone got things going 28 seconds into the third period. Vilardi and Mateychuk made it a 3-0 game by the 3:33 mark.

Olesen scored at 10:12 but O’Reilly quickly answered back 1:37 later to restore Canada’s three-goal lead. Wotherspoon sealed the scoring with 29 seconds left.

Canada (3-0) leads Group A with nine points, with Denmark (0-3) sits in last. The Canadians will next face Norway on Thursday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2026.