Canada Leads After First Period as Mark Stone's Goal Propels Tournament Favorites 3-1 Against Struggling France

Canada grabbed momentum late in the first period when Mark Stone capitalized on a French turnover to score shorthanded in the final seconds. The Golden Knights forward stripped the puck and finished with a backhand to give the Canadians a two-goal cushion heading into intermission.

Stone's goal came with just 3.4 seconds remaining in the period after France had gained some confidence from answering Canada's opening tally. The shorthanded marker crushed any hope the French carried into the locker room.

Team Canada is not giving France any chance for an upset in their last group game

Tom Wilson put Canada ahead first when he cleaned up a rebound off Drew Doughty's point shot. The goal came at 11:19 of the opening period and appeared to settle the heavily favored Canadians. Floran Douay shocked the arena by tying the score just 13 seconds later.

The forward pounced on a Jordan Binnington rebound and buried it in an open net to silence the Canadian supporters. The celebrations lasted less than a minute. Sidney Crosby created a three-on-one rush and fed Devon Toews for the go-ahead goal at 10:27.

The defenseman's finish restored Canada's advantage and set the tone for the remainder of the period. Connor McDavid earned an assist on Wilson's goal to move past Slovakia's Juraj Slafkovsky atop the tournament scoring list. The Oilers captain now has seven points through preliminary round play.

Canada controlled play throughout the period despite France's brief response. The Canadians fired 17 shots compared to just six for the French, forcing goaltender Julian Junca to make 14 saves on his 28th birthday. Cale Makar led all Canadian skaters with 7:59 of ice time while registering a plus-two rating.

Stone paced the team with four shots in the opening frame. Nathan MacKinnon nearly extended the lead during a power play but hit the post on what would have been an easy finish. France killed that penalty to keep the deficit manageable entering the second period.

Canada holds an 11-goal differential for the tournament compared to seven for the United States. The top seed in the knockout stage will be determined by goal differential between the two favorites, making every goal significant against overmatched opponents.

France begins the second period with 49 seconds remaining on a power play after Travis Sanheim took a holding penalty late in the first.


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