Team Czech Republic skated into the business end of a Team Canada buzzsaw in the first game of round-robin play at the World Cup of Hockey on Saturday night. The Czech came started out with good energy but was quickly demoralized as Canada piled up three goals in the first period.

Thereafter, the Czechs seemed either dazed, intimidated or some combination thereof. What the were not was competitive enough. Czech goaltender Michal Neuvirth far and away was his team's best player in the ice but was rendered powerless to avoid a 6-0 thrashing that actually could have been much worse had he not played well.

Canada did plenty to make plays, but the Czechs became more or spectators as the game progressed. Neuvirth was left all alone to deal with uncontested screens, point-blank set ups and a deflection goal. Canada also got the benefit of a couple of borderline calls and non-calls -- most notably, potential goaltender interference on the game's first goal -- but it scarcely mattered as things turned out.

Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand (deflection) and Patrice Bergeron (buzzer-beater through a heavy screen by Crosby) effectively put the game away by the first intermission. Joe Thornton, Jonathan Toews and Alex Pietrangelo added to the carnage later.

Among multiple tough saves, Neuvirth's early game glovehand stop on a Crosby breakaway and a diving blocker save on Steven Stamkos in the second period stood out the most. It was just a case in which one team completely dominated and demoralized the other and the goaltender ended up having a long night. Neuvirth finished with 44 saves on 50 shots.

At the other end of the ice, Carey Price was very sharp but only sporadically tested in recording a 27-save shutout. David Pastrnak and Jakub Voracek led the Czechs with four shots on goal apiece.

The Czechs had a miserable game in every manpower situation. Dominated at even strength, they also came up empty on six power play opportunities and were just 1-for-3 on the penalty kill. The Czech side also got owned in the faceoff circle, winning a meager 38 percent.

In short, whatever there was to control, the Canadians controlled it. Now, a quick bounceback and a short memory is in order.

The Czechs will go back to the drawing board before they take on Team Europe on Monday (3 p.m. ET, ESPN2 in the United States). Team Europe looked awful in much of the pretournament but then seemed to start finding a little chemistry as it rallied around an underdog's mentality after looking to be a hodgepodge mess early in its preparations. Team Europe is coming off a 3-0 win over Team USA, which looked punchless and ill-prepared on Saturday.

Radek Faksa did not play at all in the final 40 minutes of the Canada debacle. Additionally, Neuvirth (who has a history of injuries, and missed virtually the entire stretch drive last season for the Philadelphia Flyers before starring in the playoffs against the Washington Capitals) appeared to have tweaked something in the third period but recovered enough to finish the game.

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