Canada vs. Czech Republic
How to watch
Puck drop: 1:00 PM EST / 10:00 AM PST
In Canada: TSN1, TSN4, TSN5 (English,) RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Live stream: TSN Direct, RDS Direct
Canada’s 6-0 loss to Team Russia on Saturday created a logjam in Group B, with any of the five teams still in the mix for the top spot and the best matchup in the quarter-finals that placement brings. Some results on Sunday handed the reins back to Canada as they took control of their own fate, needing only to win their games and not worry about what other nations did.
They completed the first step by beating Germany on Monday, coming away with a 4-1 win. Since the United States needed overtime to get past the Czechs later in the day, that same result versus the host nation on Tuesday will be enough to get Canada to the top of Group B, setting up a matchup with Slovakia in the quarters on January 2.
The Czechs aren’t planning to just hand that result over. If they can beat Canada, they get the second spot in the group, and that could be the difference between facing off with Switzerland or a Finnish team that has been scoring nearly six goals per game so far.
The defencemen have provided half of the offence for the Czechs so far. Libor Zabransky is leading all of the tournament’s blue-liners with three goals, and is also near the top of the leaderboard for shots on target. He’ll be one player to focus on for Canada during the inevitable short-handed sections of the game, though eyes will have to be kept on Michal Teply and Jan Jenik up front as well.
Team Canada projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #17 Connor McMichael | #27 Barrett Hayton | #29 Nolan Foote |
| #19 Quinton Byfield | #9 Joe Veleno | #20 Dawson Mercer |
| #8 Liam Foudy | #18 Ty Dellandrea | #22 Dylan Cozens |
| #10 Raphael Lavoie | #16 Akil Thomas | #25 Aidan Dudas |
Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #14 Jared McIsaac | #24 Ty Smith |
| #4 Bowen Byram | #5 Jacob Bernard-Docker |
| #2 Kevin Bahl | #3 Calen Addison |
| #6 Jamie Drysdale |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| #30 Joel Hofer |
| #1 Nico Daws |
Injured: Alexis Lafrenière
Team Czech Republic projected lineup
Forwards
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #18 Karel Plasek | #21 Jaromir Pytlik | #14 Jan Jenik |
| #17 Matej Blümel | #24 Petr Cajka | #11 Michal Teplý |
| #27 Jan Mysak | #15 Ondrej Pavel | #26 Adam Raska |
| #10 Matej Pekar | #16 Otakar Sik |
Defencemen
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #3 Karel Klikorka | #8 Libor Zábranský |
| #4 Radek Kucerik | #23 Simon Kubicek |
| #9 Tomas Dajcar | #7 Hugo Has |
Goaltenders
| Goaltenders |
|---|
| #2 Lukas Dostal |
| #1 Lukas Parik |
