Parayko plays nearly 20 minutes in Canadians' 4-2 win against Great Britain in opening game of 2024 IIHF World Championship, Binnington gets day off; USA tops Germany 6-1 after opening tournament with loss against Sweden
Joel Hofer didn't see much action on Saturday morning for Canada.
It didn't matter for the St. Louis Blues goalie, who did just enough with 13 saves helping the Canadians open play at the 2024 IIHF World Championship with a 4-2 win against Great Britain at Prague Arena in Prague, Czechia.
Hofer got the nod for Canada and was backed up by Nico Daws (New Jersey Devils), while Blues goalie Jordan Binnington was given the opener off.
Blues defenseman Colton Parayko, playing on Canada's top d-pairing with Owen Power (Buffalo Sabres), played 19:58 and had three shots on goal.
Meanwhile, USA rebounded from its tourney opening 5-2 loss against Sweden by cruising past Germany 6-1 at Ostrava Arena in Ostrava, Czechia on Saturday night.
For the second straight game, Blues forward Kevin Hayes did not factor in the scoring but had one shot on goal and played 12:06 centering the fourth line with Luke Kunin (San Jose Sharks) and Michael Eyssimont (Tampa Bay Lightning).
St. Louisan Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators) scored and Kunin (Chesterfield, Mo.) had an assist. Tkachuk was named player of the game for USA.
Blues defenseman Matthew Kessel, who did not play in USA's opener, was scratched for the second straight game.
The schedule for Sunday includes Canada against Denmark at 9:20 a.m. (CT), while USA will play its next game Monday at 9:20 a.m. (CT) against Slovakia.
