Canada Explode for Five in Third to Beat Denmark 5-1

Canada stayed perfect at the 2026 IIHF World Championship with a 5-1 win over Denmark at BCF Arena in Fribourg on Monday. After 40 scoreless minutes, the Canadians erupted for five third-period goals, four of them set up by captain Sidney Crosby in front of 6,367 fans.

How it unfolded

The first 40 minutes belonged to the goaltenders. Denmark's Frederik Henriksen and Canada's Jet Greaves traded zeroes through two periods despite Canada holding a 28-12 shot advantage.

The dam broke at 2:55 of the third period when Mason McTavish finished from Crosby and Adam Fantilli. Crosby set up the next two as well: Cole Sillinger scored at 4:18 from Crosby and Travis Sanheim, and Bo Horvat made it 3-0 at 6:00 from Crosby and Connor Bedard. Three goals in 3:05 effectively ended the contest.

Mads Eller broke the shutout at 9:32 from Frederik Storm and Nick Olesen to give Denmark a flicker of life. Brandt Clarke responded at 13:53 from Crosby and Horvat to restore the four-goal lead, and Travis Konecny closed the scoring at 17:01 from Fantilli and McTavish to seal the 5-1 final.

Goaltenders and shots

Jet Greaves earned the win for Canada with 15 saves on 16 shots. Frederik Henriksen took the loss with 33 saves on 38 shots in a busy night for the Danish netminder. Crosby finished with 0+4, and McTavish, Fantilli and Horvat each posted 1+1 nights.

Coming up

Canada move to 9 points and a +12 goal differential atop Group B. Denmark drop to 0-3 with a minus-fourteen goal differential. Canada are back in action Wednesday against Sweden at BCF Arena at 20:20 CET, while Denmark face Italy on Wednesday at 16:20 CET.