Only two players were in action Saturday morning, as Canada faced Italy in its second game of the tournament. Representing Canada, both Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse had solid games.

Let’s take a look at what happened on Day 2 of the Worlds. You can read the Day 1 recap here.

Canada vs. Italy

In February, Italy hosted the 2026 Winter Olympics, meaning its national team automatically made the tournament. The Italians also earned a promotion to the World’s after finishing as the second-placed team in Division I last season.

Canada’s and Italy’s paths never crossed in the Olympics, as Italy lost all three games it played in the qualification round, then lost 3-0 to Switzerland in the qualification playoffs. Canada won all three games it played but lost in overtime to the United States to earn a silver medal.

Well, the two teams finally met on Day 2 of the Worlds, and it went as expected. Midway through the first period, Dylan Holloway scored his second of the tournament, with John Tavares and Ryan O’Reilly picking up assists. Less than a minute later, Fraser Minten scored, with Connor Brown picking up an assist.

With about three to play in the first, captain Macklin Celebrini scored to extend Canada’s lead to 3-0. On this goal, Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse picked up his third assist of the tournament.

TSN

@TSN_Sports

·Follow

THE CAPTAIN MACKLIN CELEBRINI WITH A ROCKET TO MAKE IT 3-0! 🇨🇦🚨 #MensWorlds

Watch on X

2:52 PM · May 16, 2026

1.9K

Read 7 replies

Moving to the second period, Celebrini scored his second of the game just two minutes in. With two minutes left in the second, Evan Bouchard scored his first goal of the tournament, which was quickly followed by O’Reilly’s goal to put Canada up 6-0.

TSN

@TSN_Sports

·Follow

BOUCHARD BLAST 💥 It's 5-0 Canada! 🇨🇦 #MensWorlds

Watch on X

3:52 PM · May 16, 2026

274

Read 6 replies

Canada took its foot off the pedal for the third period, with the final frame seeing no scoring in what was a 6-0 victory. Bouchard logged the most minutes of any skater, just over 20 minutes of ice time. The right-shot defenceman also picked up four shots. As for Nurse, he logged 19:21, the second-most behind Bouchard, while finishing as a +2 with two shots.

Other news…

Although only two Oilers players played on Saturday, there were five other games on the docket. The early games in each group saw Austria defeat Great Britain 5-2 in Group A action. In Group B, Slovakia defeated Norway 2-1, as all four of those teams kicked off its tournament.

Finland took the lead in Group A thanks to a 4-1 victory over Hungary. Former Oilers winger Jesse Puljujärvi scored twice and picked up an assist, bringing his goal total to three with five points in his two games so far this tournament.

There are two late games as well. Switzerland, the hosts, play Latvia. Czechia plays the Anže Kopitar-less Slovenia, which will surely be a Czechia victory. If that’s the case, Czechia and Canada will be tied for the Group B lead.

Setting up Sunday’s games, Isaac Howard and the United States play the early game against Great Britain, with that game beginning at 4:20 a.m. MT. Mattias Ekholm and Sweden return to action at 8:20 a.m. MT, playing its Scandinavian rivals, Denmark. Josh Samanski and Germany are in action against Latvia at 12:20 p.m. MT.

The other three games will see Slovakia and Italy play the early game in Group B, Austria and Hungary will play at 8:20 AM MT in Group A action, and Slovenia takes on Norway at 12:20 PM MT.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.