Blais scores twice, Canada beats Germany 5-2 to win gold at men's hockey worlds

Canada celebrates its victory over Germany during the gold medal match at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere, Finland, Sunday, May 28, 2023. Canada won 5-2. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

TAMPERE, Finland -

Sammy Blais scored twice as Canada beat Germany 5-2 to capture gold at the men's world hockey championship on Sunday.

Lawson Crouse, captain Tyler Toffoli and Scott Laughton also scored, and Peyton Krebs pitched in two assists for Canada.

• Download our app to get alerts to your device
• Get the latest newsletters right to your inbox

"It feels really good," Blais said. "We've been in Europe for a month and we've all waited for that moment to play for the gold-medal game. And we're lucky enough to have won it."

JJ Peterka and Daniel Fischbuch scored for Germany, which was in the gold-medal game for the first time since 1992 when the playoff format was introduced at the world championship. Moritz Seider added two assists.

Goaltender Samuel Montembeault made 21 saves for Canada, while German netminder Mathias Niederberger turned away 23 shots.

Canada won gold for the second time in three years after losing to Finland in overtime in last year's world championship gold-medal game. It's Canada's 28th title at the event, the most of any country. Canada also has 16 silver and eight bronze medals from the tourney since 1931.

"I could not be more proud of this group. We battled through a lot of adversity and doubt to get to this point, and this win is so special," Toffoli said. "We have such a close-knit team that came together quickly, and we always believed in each other.

"Everyone bought in and we played a great game today, and I am incredibly happy to be going back to Canada with a gold medal."

Peterka opened the scoring for Germany at 7:44 of the first period with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle off a breakout that beat Montembeault.

Blais responded three minutes later, scoring in his third consecutive game after finishing off a pass from centre Peyton Krebs on a two-on-one to tie the game at 1-1.

Fischbuch gave Germany the lead again on a one-timer from the slot that trickled into the net 13:47 into the second period.

Canada replied with Crouse deflecting a pass from Krebs on the power play with 2:32 remaining in the second frame.

Blais then buried his second of the game 4:51 into the third period with a backhand off a rebound to put Canada ahead.

Toffoli added an insurance marker with eight minutes left, scoring with a wrist shot on a two-on-one to make it 4-2 in favour of Canada.

Laughton scored into an empty net with two minutes left to put the game out of reach.

"The commitment of everyone on our team was unbelievable. We knew we had to come here and play for each other and commit to a team game. We came here to represent Canada and make our country proud, and I am so blessed to be a part of this group," said head coach Andre Tourigny.

"Our players wanted to win so bad. They wanted to bring a gold medal back to Canada, and when you have that mindset you can accomplish great things, and we did that tonight."

Following the gold-medal game, MacKenzie Weegar was named best defenceman of the tournament and was selected to the media all-star team. Crouse, Montembeault and Weegar were also named Team Canada's three best players of the tournament following the semifinals.

LATVIA 4 UNITED STATES 3 (OT)

Defenceman Kristian Rubins scored his second goal 1:22 into overtime to lead Latvia to victory over the United States and earn a bronze medal earlier Sunday.

It's the first top-three finish for Latvia at the tournament. Its previous best was a seventh place it managed three times.

The U.S. lost in the bronze-medal game for the second straight year. The U.S. team was cruising through the tournament with eight straight wins until it was defeated by Germany in the semifinal, 4-3 in overtime.

Rubins rallied Latvia with his first with 5:39 to go in the final period to tie the game at -33 to force overtime.

Roberts Bukarts and Janis Jaks also scored for Latvia.

Rocco Grimaldi scored twice for the U.S. in the opening period to negate Latvia's 1-0 and 2-1 leads.

Matt Coronato had put the U.S. 3-2 ahead 6:19 into the final period.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2023