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According to Comtois, he’s receiving far more than is being called. So if he has to embellish some of the damage to get a call, then so be it.

“We’re just trying to have an edge on every team,” he said. “Those kind of things are going to happen. You just have to be careful with that.”

Indeed, after being called for diving, it’s clear the referees are paying the wrong kind of attention to Comtois. It’s something that Canada’s head coach Tim Hunter is well aware of.

“I talk to Max every day,” said Hunter. “He understands the nuances of taking penalties and drawing penalties. I’m not going to talk to him about embellishment. He understands how it went last night.”

KEEP YOUR HEAD UP

Canada lost against Russia on Monday night, but looking back the team had lots of reasons to be happy with how it played.

For one, Canada had outshot 13-4 in the second period. And while the Russians had scored the only goal in the third period, it was Canada that might have had the best chances.

” We didn’t play as great in the first period, but it’s never as bad as it seems when you see it again,” said Hunter. “You look and they didn’t have a scoring chance in the second period. But it’s consistency. As a coach you’re disappointed about last night, but you’re by no means upset because there’s still growth going on here.

“You have to give them the benefit that they are growing. We lost last night, but it’s not the end of the world. We forge on.”

POWER OUTAGE

Canada’s power play remains a work in progress. The team failed to capitalize on three man-advantage opportunities against Russia on Monday, but Hunter said the opportunities were there for the team to score.