Patrik Laine did not wait long to make a statement at the World Hockey Championship.

The presumptive No. 2 pick at the upcoming NHL draft on June 24 scored two goals and added an assist as Finland crushed Belarus 6-2 in their tournament opener in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Laine became the youngest player in tournament history to score with a dazzling give-and-go with Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov early in the second period. The 18-year-old prospect picked up a turnover in the neutral zone and carried the puck into the offensive zone, cut into the slot and slid a behind-the-back pass to Barkov, who immediately sent the puck back for an easy tap in. 

Mikko Koivu added another marker to pad the lead before Belarus forward Andrei Stas had too much steam and too much strength on a breakaway, outmuscling a pursuing Laine to break the shutout with just over two minutes left in the second.

Laine made amends for his shortcoming and restored the two-goal advantage 41 seconds later with a rocket goal from the point on a 5-on-3 power play.

That wasn’t all for the Finns in the middle frame as Laine and Barkov set up Mikael Granlund for his first goal of the tournament - a shorthanded marker -  with four seconds left.

The modern-era record for points by a player under the age of 18 at the world championship is five by Jaromir Jagr in 1990. Laine’s three in one period puts him well on his way.

In the same building hours earlier, Auston Matthews shone about as much as one could in the United States’ 5-1 loss to Canada at the World Hockey Championship.

The presumptive No. 1 pick in 2016 was third among American forwards in the tournament opener with 16:56 of ice time. He finished with the sixth most ice time for the U.S. behind defenceman Connor Murphy (20:05), forward Dylan Larkin (19:55), defencemen Noah Hanifin (19:18) and Brady Skjei (19:09) and forward Nick Foligno (19:01).

“I thought he was among the U.S.’s best players in this game,” TSN Hockey Analyst Ray Ferraro said. “There was some moments where he had the puck and made some quick plays with it where you could really see his skill.”

The 18-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona native managed three shots and finished a minus-1 after a key turnover that led to a shorthanded goal for Canada’s Brad Marchand.

Nonetheless, the youngster was a noticeable force in his first ever world championship contest.

“I think we saw some from Auston Matthews that shows what type of player he’s going to be as he moves through this tournament and then in the infancy of his NHL career,” Ferraro said.