Canada rolls Switzerland 8-1, McKenna continues to shine

By Canadian Press on April 30, 2024.

Porter Martone had a hat trick as a seven-goal second period lifted Canada over Switzerland 8-1 on Sunday to stay undefeated at the men’s under-18 world hockey championship.

Medicine Hat Tiger Gavin McKenna scored his team-leading fourth goal and added a pair of assists for Canada (3-0). He sits tied with Martone with eight points through three games.

Kashawn Aitcheson started Canada’s comeback, scoring 10 seconds after Switzerland opened the scoring. Ryder Ritchie, Tij Iginla and Marek Vanacker rounded out the scoring.

Ryerson Leenders earned his first start in net for Canada and turned aside 26-of-27 shots, including all 15 shots he faced in the first period.

Canada outshot Switzerland 34-27.

The 16-year-old McKenna has been the talk of the tournament, sitting third in scoring with four goals and eight points in three games, with a 2.67 points-per-game average.

He had a pair of goals against Sweden to help Canada win an important one, and then registered consecutive three-point outings in wins against Czechia and Switzerland.

McKenna’s point-per-game pace has him on track to pass previous tournament production from NHL stars Jack Hughes, Steven Stamkos, Evgeni Malkin, Clayton Keller, Taylor Hall and Andrei Svechnikov, among others. The ultimate number he could pass is Alexander Ovechkin’s 18 points as a draft-minus-two skater, a player two years away from their NHL draft year.

McKenna and Team Canada will wrap up their round robin today against Kazakhstan, puck drop at 10 a.m.