The next time someone says that Team Canada is without a star player at this year’s world junior championship, load up Jordan Kyrou’s goal from Wednesday night’s 6-0 win against Slovakia.

It was pure magic. The kind of trick you might see in a David Blaine special.

One second, Kyrou was cutting to his left to avoid a defender. And then, he stopped suddenly and cut back to his right, threading the puck through a pair of feet as though they were a set of pylons in a practice drill.

It didn’t seem real. As though, closer inspection would reveal that the puck was attached to the stick with fishing wire. That’s how silly the Toronto native — and second-round pick of the St. Louis Blues — made the poor Slovak defender look.

To cap it off, Kyrou then wristed the puck past a helpless goalie, who like the rest of the players and fans in the building seemed mesmerized by the deking exhibition on display.

It came in the second period and provided Canada with a 4-0 lead, but it was just another example of how much hidden talent there is on this team.

What might have started out as a no-name roster of second-round picks and mid-range prospects is quickly turning into a dangerous offensive collection of snipers. Everyone can score. More than that, they can all go bar-down.

Jonah Gadjovich had two goals while Sam Steel, Taylor Raddysh and fourth-liner Maxime Comtois all scored in the one-sided win to remain in first place in Group A.

The team next plays the United States in an outdoor game on Friday at New Era Field — the home of the Buffalo Bills — before concluding the preliminary round with a game against Denmark on Saturday.

Based on the amount of offensive options at head coach Dominique Ducharme’s disposal, the U.S. should have its hands full deciding which of Canada’s four lines — all have scored already — deserves the most attention.

By now, it shouldn’t be surprising.

We’re only two games into the tournament, but Canada is not beating teams with defence and dump-and-chase hockey. This is a fun team to watch. There isn’t a Connor McDavid to bring in the casual sports fan. But there are plenty of Mitch Marners — the type of players who can make magic happen every time they are on the ice.

Kyrou, who still leads the Ontario Hockey League with 58 points in 30 games despite having last played on Dec. 9, leads Canada with four points in two games. His linemate, Steel, who was the Western Hockey League’s MVP last year, has two goals and one assist.

Raddysh and Gadjovich also have two goals and one assist, while three other forwards have one goal apiece.

What also is encouraging is how Canada is scoring. Kyrou’s goal was obviously flashy, but three others came from driving to the net and tapping in rebounds or redirections. Comtois’ goal was a blend of both, as the towering forward hunted down a Slovak defender and stripped him of the puck, before roofing a backhand into the top corner.

Sure, Slovakia was hardly a challenging opponent. But give the Canadian team credit for playing a disciplined game and dictating the pace of play with its speed.

And when they needed it, the Canadians goaltending was once again rock solid.

A day after Carter Hart held the fort against Finland, backup Colton Point stopped all 20 shots he faced. It might not have been a heavily taxing game for Point, but his role did become more important in the first period when Canada was down to five defenceman after Jake Bean slid head-first into the end boards on a collision with a Slovak player.

Canada was already without Cale Klage who hurt his foot in the game against Finland while blocking a shot. The top-pairing defenceman’s status for the rest of the tournament is unclear, which made Bean’s return in the second period an obviously welcome one.

Of course, with an offence like this one, they didn’t really need it.

mtraikos@postmedia.com

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