Mooseheads on scoresheet in 9-3 Canada win over Germany

Halifax Mooseheads forward Jonathan Drouin scored a beauty goal and added and assist and Nathan MacKinnon also found himself onto the scoresheet with an assist as Team Canada defeated Germany by a score of 9-3 in the first game of the tournament.

Drouin’s effort earned the 17-year-old the Team Canada cape awarded to a player by the coaching staff.

Canada looked sharp after what most considered a lacklustre performance in exhibition.

Captain Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and four assists to lead Canada to the win.

Mark Scheifele also scored twice, including a short-handed goal, while Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and two assists.

Goaltender Malcolm Subban stopped 25 of 28 shots for the win.

There will be some bleary-eyed people around Halifax today as many were up for the 5:30 a.m. puck drop. Friday’s game against the Slovaks is also a 5:30 a.m. start.

Thanks to the ongoing NHL lockout, Team Canada is boasting a little more firepower than they otherwise would have.

Players like Nugent-Hopkins and Scheifele are playing for the Canadian team, when they likely would have been playing in the NHL otherwise.

Canada is considered one of the favourites for the gold, along with hockey juggernauts Russia and the United States.

Historically Canada has done extremely well at the World Juniors, although they have not won the gold since 2009.

Canada may have not won gold since they last played in Ottawa, but the team has medalled every year since 1998.

Canada won bronze last year.

Canada’s path to a gold medal this year won’t be easy, however.

The Canadians are in a division with four other countries, including gold-medal contenders Russia and the United States.