Kessel makes debut for Americans in 5-0 win against France; Parayko has team-high five shots on goal in Canadians' 4-1 win against Norway
Five St. Louis Blues were on the winning side Thursday at the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
Defenseman Matthew Kessel made his debut for USA in a 5-0 win against France, while defenseman Colton Parayko led all shooters with five shots on goal in Canada's 4-1 win against Norway.
Kessel, who was a healthy scratch the first three games for USA (2-0-1-1, seven points), had a shot on goal and was a plus-1 in 9:18 time on ice. Teammate Kevin Hayes was held off the scoresheet for the fourth straight game but moved up to center a line with Trevor Zegras (Anaheim Ducks) and former Philadelphia Flyers teammate Joel Farebee.
USA won 63 percent of its face-offs, and Hayes led the way at 73 percent, winning eight of 11 draws.
For Canada (3-1-0-0, 11 points), Blues goalie Jordan Binnington got the afternoon off and Joel Hofer backed up Nico Daws (New Jersey Devils), who made his debut after backing up Hofer in the opener and Binnington the past two games.
Parayko didn't have any points but was a plus-1 in 18:53.
USA is tied for third in points in Group B with Latvia and next plays on Friday in Ostrava, Czechia at 1:20 p.m. (CT) against Poland.
Canada, which is tied for first with Switzerland in Group A, faces Finland in Prague on Saturday at 9:20 a.m. (CT).
