BUFFALO — A little luck and a lot of opportunistic scoring.

That’s essentially how Canada defeated Finland 4-2 in their first game of the world junior hockey championship on Tuesday. It wasn’t necessarily pretty. But at the same time, there was a lot to like from the Canadian side, which received goals from four different players and a 29-save effort from goalie Carter Hart.

In the end, consider this a warm-up game — for both the players and fans.

Playing out of the same rink as the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, the KeyBank Center was barely half full on Day 1 of the tournament. Those who did come to watch clearly had crossed the border, as this was as close to a home game as you could get for Canada.

From the beginning, the boys in red-and-white gave the sparse crowd something to cheer about. The Canadians, who have no draft-eligible players and only one top-10 draft pick on their roster, don’t have a star player like Connor McDavid or even Dylan Strome this time around. But they certainly aren’t lacking in speed or balanced scoring.

Both were on display in an overpowering — if not one-sided — win against Finland.

Canada next plays Slovakia on Wednesday, before taking on the defending Americans in an outdoor game on Friday and then Denmark on Saturday to conclude the preliminary round.

It was difficult to pick just one difference-maker from Canada. Nearly every player on the team did something to affect the game, whether it was forward Alex Forementon setting the tone with an early open-ice hit or defenceman Cal Foote saving a goal by gloving a puck out of the crease.

For a team that was put together a week or so ago, it was remarkable how quickly they have come together and assumed roles. No matter the line or the ice time, one thing is clear: every player on this team can fly and fill the net.

Each of the first three goals came from a different line, as Canada jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period thanks to a breakaway goal from Boris Katchouk and tap-ins from Sam Steel and Drake Batherson. The Finnish goalie really didn’t have a chance.

Team Canada didn’t overpower Finland with a ton of shots. In fact, Finland outshot Canada 12-7 in the first period. But what stood out is how easily the offence came.

Canada had defeated Switzerland 8-1, the Czech Republic 9-0 and Denmark 5-2 in pre-tournament exhibition games. And while those meaningless games are hardly an indicator of a country’s gold-medal chances, it did showcase just how dangerous Canada’s offence is.

Katchouk, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect who has scored 27 goals in 30 games with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, was too much for Finland’s defence to handle as the 6-foot-3 power forward charged up the ice and took the puck hard to the net on a partial breakaway early in the first period.

The goal probably shouldn’t have counted, considering that Katchouk knocked the net off during his backhand deke. But a video review determined that the puck had already crossed the line by that point.

The controversial goal seemed to stun the Finns, who promptly took a slashing penalty and then went down 2-0 when Steel scored on the ensuing power play less than 30 seconds later.

Even when Finland did score, Canada refused to give up momentum. Half a minute after Aleksi Heponiemi cut into Canada’s lead, Ottawa Senators prospect Drake Batherson finished off a rush from Montreal Canadiens defenceman Victor Mete to make it 3-1.

Canada then went up 4-2 five minutes after a Finland goal when Taylor Raddysh knocked a puck out of the air, spun around and beat the goalie with a blocker-side shot.

Hart, meanwhile, was rock-solid for Canada in net. Neither of the two goals the returning goalie allowed were his fault. On one goal, a Canadian player cleared the puck right onto a Finnish player’s stick. On the other, Canada’s Jonah Gadjovich accidentally redirected a point shot past Hart.

When Hart needed help, his defence was there. Late in the third period, with Finland pressing to try and get back into the game, Footed save a goal when he dove behind Hart and used his glove to swat a puck that was rolling over the line out of danger.

It was a team effort from a team that lacks that one star player. And if the Canadians hope to win gold, they will need more of it as the tournament continues.

• Email: mtraikos@postmedia.com | Twitter: @michael_traikos