Cozens hat trick leads Canada to win over Kazakhstan

HELSINKI — Dylan Cozens scored three times, including two power-play goals that put the game out of reach, as Canada posted a 6-3 win over Kazakhstan in a penalty-filled game Thursday at the world hockey championship.

Adam Lowry, Drake Batherson and Damon Severson, with the game-winner, also scored for Canada, which improved to 4-0 and set up a showdown with Switzerland for first place in Group A on Saturday.

Yegor Petukhov, Arkadi Shestakov and Kirill Savitski scored for Kazakhstan (0-4), which led twice in the first period and gave the defending champions a scare before getting into penalty trouble late in the game.

Canada was 3-for-6 on the power play, while Kazakhstan was 1-for-6.

Logan Thompson made 16 saves for Canada. Andrei Shutov stopped 31 shots for Kazakhstan.

The start of the game was delayed by 40 minutes due to a fire at Helsinki Ice Hall before Thursday's earlier game between Germany and Denmark.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2022.