BRATISLAVA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Canada saw their 3-0 lead against France diminish to one in the second period of the Group A clash but they ultimately denied the French a comeback and triumphed 5-2 on Thursday.

After scoring three straight goals in the first period, Canada slacked off in their defense and France started to mount a comeback in the second. Damien Fleury robbed the Canadian goaltender Carter Hart of his shutout on a powerplay, and after Anthony Rech got ahold of the puck behind the goal and put it in under the crossbar, the French trailed only by one.

At this point, Canada started to take the situation seriously again. Anthony Mantha scored his second of the night with a quick poke after the French defenders failed to clear the puck and Mark Stone capitalized on Jonathan Marchessault's beautiful back pass to put the Group A game away at 5-2

Canada moved up to second position and will face the still undefeated Germany on Saturday. France will go toe to toe against the disheartened team of Slovakia on the same day.