Top 2011 Entry Draft prospects led Canada and the U.S. to impressive victories on the second day of the IIHF World Under-18 Championship.
Mark Scheifele, ranked No. 16 on NHL Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters for this year's Entry Draft, scored a pair of goals to lead Canada to a 5-0 victory against the Czech Republic in its tournament opener.
Scheifele scored a power-play goal that capped a three-goal first period, and then scored again midway through the third.
Defenseman Ryan Murphy, No. 10 on Central Scouting's list, had a goal and 2 assists, and Eric Locke and Morgan Rielly also scored for Canada. Team captain Ryan Murray had 3 assists.
Malcolm Subban -- younger brother of Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban -- stopped all 26 shots he faced.
Czech goalie Matej Machovsky, who plays for the OHL's Brampton Battalion and is No. 11 on Central Scouting's final ranking of North American goalies, stopped 24 shots in the loss. The game came 24 hours after Machovsky stopped 44 of 45 shots in a 2-1 win against Sweden.
The game was played at EnergieVerbund Arena in Dresden, Germany, one of two sites for the tournament.
At the main venue, the Crimmitschau Arena, the U.S. won its second straight game, getting a goal and 2 assists each from Rocco Grimaldi and team captain Robbie Russo in an 8-1 victory against Slovakia.
John Gibson, Central Scouting's top-rated goaltender, stopped all 20 shots he faced in 48 minutes of action. With a commanding lead, coach Ron Rolston played Matt McNeely, No. 4 on Central Scouting's list, over the final few minutes.
Grimaldi, No. 32 on Central Scouting's final list of North American skaters, opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 11:22 of the first period.
The U.S. scored six times on the power play and added a shorthanded goal in the victory.
"Specials teams were a major part of this victory and the difference in the game," Rolston told USA Hockey's website. "We will have to continue that play throughout the tournament to be successful."
After defenseman Connor Murphy -- No. 25 on Central Scouting's final North American skater list -- scored late in the first to make it 2-0, Grimaldi set up Russo one minute into the second for a power-play goal that made it 3-0. Russo, a defenseman, is No. 55 on Central Scouting's list.
Travis Boyd's shorthanded goal made it 4-0, and the U.S. added two more power-play goals before the end of the second to make it 6-0 after two.
Russo set up a goal by Dan Carlson in the third -- the only U.S. even-strength goal -- and Ryan Haggerty added a 5-on-3 goal that made it 8-0.
Marko Dano scored Slovakia's lone goal midway through the third period.
In other action Friday, Mika Zibanejad, the second-ranked skater on Central Scouting's final list of European skaters, had a hat trick and 3 assists to lead Sweden to a 10-2 rout of Norway. Victor Rask, No. 12 on Central Scouting's list of European skaters, had 2 goals and 2 assists. Oscar Klefbom, No. 6 on the same list, had a pair of assists.
Germany got a pair of goals from Tobias Rieder, who plays for the OHL's Kitchener Rangers and is No. 73 on Central Scouting's ranking of North American skaters, in a 4-1 victory against Switzerland.
Contact Adam Kimelman at akimelman@nhl.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK
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