* Halak, who missed the final month of the 2015-16 NHL season (as well as the playoffs) due to injury, recorded the most saves in a shutout win in World Cup of Hockey history. The previous high was 29, set by Miikka Kiprusoff of Finland in a 3-0 win over Germany on Sept. 2, 2004, in Cologne, Germany.

* Marian Gaborik (Slovakia), Leon Draisaitl (Germany) and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (France) accounted for Team Europe’s three goals. Draisaitl’s father, Peter, led Germany with 1-4—5 in four games during the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

* ICYMI: Team Europe captain Anze Kopitar, Team USA forward David Backes and referee Gord Dwyer were mic’d up for the opening game of the World Cup of Hockey 2016.

DID YOU KNOW?
Team USA suffered just its second shutout in World Cup of Hockey/Canada Cup history, snapping a 38-game streak with at least one goal dating to Sept. 9, 1976. On that day, Vladislav Tretiak and the Soviet Union blanked the United States, 5-0, at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pa.

TEAM CANADA CRUISES PAST TEAM CZECH REPUBLIC
The line of Sidney Crosby (1-2—3, +4), Brad Marchand (1-2—3, +3) and Patrice Bergeron (1-0—1, +2) combined for 3-4—7 and a +9 rating to propel Team Canada past Team Czech Republic in its tournament opener.

* Carey Price turned aside 27 shots to record the shutout. He has not allowed a goal in his last 224:19 of international play dating to the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, when he backstopped Canada to the gold medal in Sochi, Russia (5-0, 0.59 GAA, .972 SV%, 2 SO).

* Team Canada outshot Team Czech Republic, 50-27, the second-most shots on goal by one team in one game in World Cup of Hockey history:

Most Shots on Goal by One Team in One Game, World Cup of Hockey History
56 – Czech Republic, Sept. 3, 2004, at Prague. Czech Republic 7, Germany 2 (RR)
50 – Canada, Sept. 17, 2016, at Toronto. Canada 6, Czech Republic 0 (RR)
48 – Sweden, Aug. 26, 1996, at Stockholm. Sweden 6, Germany 1 (RR)

SNEAK PEEK AT SUNDAY’S ACTION
All Times Eastern
Team Sweden @ Team Russia, 3 p.m., ESPN, SN, TVAS
Team North America @ Team Finland, 8 p.m., ESPN2, SN, TVAS

GROUP B BEGINS ROUND-ROBIN PLAY
All four teams in Group B open round-robin play Sunday at Air Canada Centre:

* Team Russia, who finished 1-0-2 in pre-tournament play, faces Team Sweden in the first game of the day. Artemi Panarin, the reigning Calder Trophy winner, paced Team Russia with 2-2—4 in three exhibition contests. Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to get the start in net after stopping 74-of-80 shots in pre-tournament action. Team Sweden – led by the line of Loui Eriksson, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin (combined 4-4—8 in exhibition play) – looks to bounce back following a 6-2 defeat to Team Europe in its final pre-tournament contest. Henrik Lundqvist, the goaltender who guided Team Sweden to gold at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, mans the pipes after yielding eight goals on 36 shots during the pre-tournament schedule.

* Team North America – a pool of the best young hockey players from Canada and the United States age 23 or younger as of Oct. 1, 2016 – makes its highly anticipated debut in the nightcap against Team Finland. Team North America features five of the past six No. 1 overall picks in the NHL Draft: Auston Matthews (2016 – TOR), Connor McDavid (2015 – EDM), Aaron Ekblad (2014 – FLA), Nathan MacKinnon (2013 – COL) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011 – EDM). It also includes goaltender Matt Murray, who guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup in June. Team Finland is led by captain Mikko Koivu, who shared first on the club with 1-2—3 in pre-tournament action (with Aleksander Barkov and Rasmus Ristolainen).

PARTY CONTINUES AT SCOTIABANK WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY FAN VILLAGE
The Scotiabank World Cup of Hockey Fan Village is open Sunday from 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.

Among Sunday’s highlights:

* Special guest appearances by Team Canada defenseman Brent Burns, Team Europe management Miroslav Satan and Peter Bondra, and Hockey Night in CanadaPunjabi announcer Harnarayan Singh

* Musical performances by Jojo Mason, ABBA Mania and Chris Weaver Band

* Viewing parties for the Team Russia-Team Sweden and Team North America-Team Finland games

Visit WCH2016.com/fanvillage for complete details.

WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY 2016 AIRS ACROSS SIX CONTINENTS
Television networks serving more than 200 countries and territories across six continents are providing live game coverage of the World Cup of Hockey 2016. Several of these agreements are with broadcasters in countries receiving World Cup of Hockey coverage for the first time, including China.

Click here for the complete list of World Cup of Hockey 2016 broadcast countries and territories.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Team Finland forward Aleksander Barkov penned his latest blog for WCH2016.com in advance of Sunday’s opener . . . Click here for a video recap of the Pepsi World Cup of Hockey Premiere Party, held Friday at the Scotiabank World Cup of Hockey Fan Village.

the above information was provided by the NHL PR department