Burnaby's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his first goal at the International Ice Hockey Federation world championships in a 7-2 win over France on Monday.
The Edmonton Oilers rookie centre opened the scoring for Canada at 1: 59 of the first period after being partnered on a line with Patrick Sharpe and Jamie Benn.
The new line showed a lot of hop against France, factoring in on five of the team's goals, including the first four tallies, all of which came in the opening period in Finland.
Nugent-Hopkins, the No. 1 overall pick in last year's NHL draft, picked up an assist on the power play on Canada's second goal of the game by Sharpe.
The 18-year-old Nugent-Hopkins also potted his second goal of the game in the third period.
The win over France came after last Saturday's 5-4 overtime loss to the United States.
On Wednesday, Canada improved to 3-1 in preliminary round play with a 3-2 win over Switzerland.
Canada took on host Finland on Friday (after NOW deadlines).
The world championships continue through next week with quarterfinal action beginning Thursday, May 17.
Semifinals run Saturday, with medal finals scheduled for Sunday.
