By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The World Championships are a stage where teammates during the NHL season can become foes during the tournament. That was evident early in a meeting between Canada and Czech Republic on the first day of the tournament on Friday.
Claude Giroux, captain of Team Canada, took a high-sticking penalty and Radko Gudas a roughing penalty out of a scrum where Gudas dropped Giroux with a punch. You can see video of the incident below.
Radko Gudas drops Flyers teammate Claude Giroux with a punch #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/2x8oXSUnXd
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 5, 2017
Giroux and Canada got the last laugh, however, with Canada winning 4-1. Giroux had two assists, one on the power play, and Travis Konecny also added an assist and led Canada with five shots. Jake Voracek assisted on Czech Republic’s lone goal of the game.
Earlier on Day 1 of the tournament, Russia scored a 2-1 win over Sweden in a shootout. Artemi Panarin scored the game-winning goal in the shootout, but it took a game-tying goal from Russia in the third, which Ivan Provorov assisted on.
Finland also defeated Belarus, 3-2, on Day 1. Valtteri Filppula had an assist in that game for Finland.
While no Flyers were involved in the only other game of the day, Team USA suffered a 2-1 loss to Germany in their first game of the tournament.
The Flyers have 10 players in the tournament, including five on Team Canada's roster, constructed by Flyers GM Ron Hextall. Tournament play continues on Saturday and runs through May 21.
