Dan Hamhuis and Patrick Sharp will draw back in the Canadian lineup on Sunday, but it’s unclear who they’ll replace.
Canadian head coach Mike Babcock confirmed the move following Friday’s 6-0 win over Austria. Both Hamhuis and Sharp played in the tournament opener against Norway, but were dropped from the second game in favor of P.K. Subban and Matt Duchene.
Duchene -- at 23, the youngest player on the Canadian team -- acquitted himself well against Austria, finishing plus-1 with four shots on goal in 14:28 TOI. He received some power play time and looked good skating with Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
Subban didn’t play much (11:14, least among the Canadian blueliners) and, following the game, received this review from Babcock:Babcock on Subban: “PK was fine.”
— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) February 14, 2014
Canada could drop Subban and Duchene from the lineup again, though there are other candidates to be scratched. Up front, Chris Kunitz hasn’t produced -- no points and just three shots on goal through two games -- and Jeff Carter, who scored a hat-trick against Austria, received a game-low 8:46 ice time on Friday.
On defense, Alex Pietrangelo and Marc-Edouard Vlasic were the next two lowest in ice time after Subban against the Austrians.