Dufour scores in Team Canada opener

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

William Dufour scored in Team Canada's tournament opening victory over Latvia on Wednesday at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

Dufour scored Canada's fifth goal in a 5-2 win. The New York Islanders prospect also had an assist, six shots and a +1 rating in 12:31 of ice time.

William Dufour puts Canada ahead 5-2! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/duBGn5lNyX

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) August 11, 2022

William Dufour (NYI) with his 66th goal in his last 76 games (QMJHL, Memorial Cup, World Juniors), from his favourite spot to boot. Heck of a year.

— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) August 11, 2022

Charlottetown Islanders defenseman Lukas Cormier, a Sainte-Marie-de-Kent native, also scored in the victory. Former Sea Dogs forward Joshua Roy had an assist in 18:32 of ice time on Canada's top line with Connor Bedard and Mason McTavish.

Canada is back in action on Thursday against Slovakia.

In earlier action on Wednesday, Noah Patenaude, Vincent Despont and Switzerland fell 3-2 to Sweden in their tournament opener. Patenaude made 26 stops in the loss while Despont was a -1 in 8:11 of ice time.

🥅 Warm up in Edmonton. Der Neuenburger Noah Patenaude von den @SJSeaDogs startet heute im Tor gegen die Schweden. Um 20 Uhr starten wir auf MySports Eins. #WorldJuniors I @SwissIceHockey pic.twitter.com/C2LQA2TIiH

— MySports (@MySports_CH) August 10, 2022

Switzerland returns to action on Thursday against the United States.