Florida Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson was part of a smothering effort that saw Canada limit France to just 13 shots on goal in a 4-0 win in Group B action from the IIHF World Championship on Monday.
Matheson logged 11:22 of ice time and finished the game with three shots and a +1 rating. The 22-year-old and teammate Derick Brassard each sport a tournament-best +11 rating in six games.
Mark Stone, Matt Duchene, Mark Scheifele and Corey Perry scored the goals and Colorado’s Calvin Pickard posted the shutout.
Canada will meet Aleksander Barkov, Jussi Jokinen and 6-0 Finland today with the winner taking the top spot in Group B and drawing Denmark in the quarterfinals. The loser of the game will take on either Sweden or Russia in the next round, so the tilt is a meaningful one.
In other action not involving Panther players, Germany beat Hungary 4-2, Russia blanked Norway 3-0, and Denmark took down Kazakhstan 4-1.