As Slovakia and Finland went to overtime in the first quarter-final of the World Juniors, Canada and Czechia took the opening faceoff in the second elimination game of the tournament.
Canada was determined to get off to a great start, especially after beginning the previous match on a five-minute penalty kill for a hit-to-the-head penalty on Conor Geekie. They did that will a flurry of shots on the opening shift, peppering Czech goaltender Michael Hrabal with four shots from close to the net. The netminder held his ground and allowed his team to weather the early storm.
It was an important early showing in the Czech goal, because minutes later his team opened the scoring, on a shot off the rush by Jakub Štancl that beat Mathis Rousseau short-side.
The Czechs earned a chance to double that lead when a pass up the middle of the ice created a breakaway for Dominik Rymon, and defenceman Noah Warren had to slow him down. The referee’s decision was a penalty shot. A pokecheck from Rousseau turned it aside.
Canada spent the next several minutes trying to set up a goal on a perfect pass across the zone, and each time those passes were either intercepted or the receiving forward was tied up bu a Czech defenceman. With two minutes to go, they sat on the same total of five shots they had after the opening barrage to begin the contest.
At the Canadian end, a point shot through traffic from Tomáš Cibulka made it a 2-0 game for Czechia, who were content to score any way they could manage.
Canada ended the first period with a shift in the offensive zone, but the score remained 2-0 when the horn sounded.
Rousseau made a save on Eduard Šalé to keep the score at 2-0 early in the second frame, and the Canadians got on the board moments later. With half a step on a Czech defenceman, Matthew Wood too a touch-pass from Easton Cowan and was able to beat Hrabal from the top of the circle.
Wood had a chance to double up on a bad change by the Czechs that created a three-on-one. Macklin Celebrini drove to the post and then turned it back to Wood, but Hrabal read the play and made the stop.
A shift full of forechecking pressure from Owen Beck’s line with Owen Allard and Nate Danielson put the Czech on their heels. Canada was able to make a line change with play in the offensive zone, and Jake Furlong took advantage with a floated shot from the point that got past Hrabal.
After a poor first, Canada reset the game with a couple of goals in the second period, setting up a 20-minute showdown for a spot in the semifinals.
Another quick start to a period for Canada resulted in a power play as Marek Alscher had to take down Jordan Dumais to prevent a point-blank shot. As the period went on, the Canadiens kept the Czechs under pressure, especially with the cycling play of the Beck line. Hrabal stood firm through it all, and despite Canada creating a 10-shot margin on the counter, it was a 2-2 game with half of the final period played.
The Czechs were able to regroup and traded chances with Canada over the minutes that followed. With 11 seconds on the clock, Jakub Štancl sent a shot toward the net that deflected off Oliver Bonk’s foot, winning the game 3-2 for Czechia late in the third period.
The goal ended Canada’s bid for a third consecutive gold medal, shutting them out of the medals entirely. Czechia moves on to play in the semis on Thursday, still with a chance to improve on the silver they won at last year’s tournament.
