Canada drops Sweden in world junior tuneup

Curtis Lazar doesn't need to score goals to make an impact.

Lazar didn't pick up a single point in Canada's 5-2 win over Sweden Sunday night in world junior exhibition play, but there was no denying his impact.

The 19-year-old Lazar — the oldest player on the roster by a matter of days — is on loan from the Ottawa Senators for the tournament. Having NHL experience means big things are expected from him both on and off the ice.

"After three months in the NHL I think he's seen a lot and he's seen many older guys in the NHL doing certain things," said Canada's coach Benoit Groulx. "You can tell maturity speaks in his case."

Lazar joined the team late Friday, but Groulx says he has already made an impact.

"He's loud on the bench," said Groulx. "He likes to communicate with his teammates, likes to cheer for them, likes to tell them about positioning and stuff like that. It comes naturally for him obviously and a good hockey club needs that."

Canada looked good Sunday night, getting goals from five different skaters.

Max Domi, Josh Morrissey, Anthony Duclair, Shea Theodore and Sam Reinhart scored for Canada while Eric Comrie made 17 saves.

Gustav Forsling and William Nylander had goals for Sweden, which got a 28-save performance from Samuel Ward.

This was Canada's first game since finalizing its roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship on Saturday. The tournament gets underway Dec. 26 with Canada taking on Slovakia in Montreal.

The game also marked Connor McDavid's first taste of action since he suffered a broken bone in his right hand on Nov. 11. It was Lazar's first game since being loaned to the team.

The duo played together with Nick Ritchie and while they didn't score, they did create a number of solid scoring chances.

Much was made of McDavid's return to action. While the 17-year-old showed some signs of rust, Groulx noted that he improved as the game went on.

"He showed some good things out there, showed speed and he went by a couple of defencemen to take pucks to the net," said Groulx. "I think he had a great second half of the game and it's good to see him back playing his style after such a long time being sidelined."

McDavid said he felt pretty good and felt he and his linemates were able to create some good chances.

"It was nice," said McDavid. "You never really want to be off and watching. It's never a lot of fun. To be back in game action was a lot of fun."