Canada's 18-year-old is centering the first line, and it's working

Nobody needed Canada to tell them it could beat Japan. The Canadians had outscored Japan 23-1 in their previous three meetings before Sunday. What the 9-0 win in Herning actually told us is who Canada trusts, and the answer is an 18-year-old centering the first line.

Rosalie Tremblay scored her first worlds goal, shares the team lead with six shots alongside Emma Maltais, and played more minutes than Laura Stacey did. That's not a reward for a blowout. That's a coaching staff showing you its depth chart.

She wasn't alone. Chloe Primerano, 19, opened the scoring from the top pair midway through the first. Caitlin Kraemer, 20, centers the second line and scored too. All three got their first worlds goals in the same game, and Ève Gascon picked up her first worlds win and first shutout on 14 shots.

Nine different players scored. Primerano, Erin Ambrose, Daryl Watts, Kendall Cooper, Tremblay, Maltais, Sophie Jaques, Sarah Wozniewicz and Kraemer all got one. Canada led 4-0 after two, scored five in the third, three of them inside 92 seconds late, and finished with a 59-14 edge in shots.

Eleven players on this roster are 24 or younger. That number is the story of the tournament for Canada. This is the team that showed up without the Maple Leaf and without two stars and beat Sweden 5-1 anyway. Now it's 2-0 and first in Group B.

The best young player on the ice might be the one who's 24. Cooper has two goals and two assists, is tied with Jessie Eldridge for the Canadian scoring lead, and leads the whole tournament at plus-6. She's one point behind Caroline Harvey, which is the kind of company a defender wants.

Nicole Gosling led Canadian skaters with more than 17 minutes against Japan.

Renata Fast, the co-captain, said the group "did a really good job of focusing on the habits and details." That's what veterans say after 9-0, and she's right to. Tremblay sounded like a kid having the time of her life: "It's a lot of fun to do this together."

Here's my issue with reading too much into it. Japan got 14 shots. Nobody learns much about a top line that never has to defend. Host Denmark, at 1 p.m. ET today, won't tell us much more.

The real test is the Americans, whenever the bracket puts them across the ice, and that's where this lineup gets interesting. Canada's staff can either ride the kids into a U.S. game or slide the veterans back up when the pace changes.

I'd ride them. Tremblay's line has earned a shift against Harvey, not a seat behind someone with more caps.

The W read: Canada's youth movement isn't a gamble anymore. It's the roster. Tremblay is still on the first line when Canada sees the U.S., and Cooper finishes the tournament as Canada's top-scoring defender.