photo: Tim Austen/IIHF
Canada scored five goals in a seven-minute span of the opening period and skated to a comfortable 9-2 win over Slovakia to open its defence of gold from a year ago.
The win kept Canada’s perfect record intact, now having won all 13 meetings between the teams, this despite having only 16 players in the lineup tonight. Canadian management is monitoring CHL playoffs and will add players any day now.
"I like ice time," said Canadian forward Lev Katzin. "We all like ice time. It's good at the start and gets you into the game quickly. You can't not be engaged when you have that few players, but we'll be happy to get more guys. But it was a fun game. It's good to play tired and learn how to make the right decisions when you're tired."
"We had a good start and didn't score, and that cost us the game," offered Slovakia's captain Luka Radivojevic. "Then we took some penalties and they have a good power play. That's hockey. We have to focus on the next game. We always try our best, and we had some good moments 5-on-5. But for now we have t forget this and move on."
Canada didn’t get its first goal until 12:34, but as it turned out that opener loosened up the Canadian offence. Katzin found Cameron Schmidt in front on a power play to make it 1-0. Less than four minutes later, another man advantage succeeded. This time, Katzin finished the play after a clever back pass in the slot by captain Braeden Cootes.
Just 56 seconds later, it was 3-0 on a weird play. The puck came in front of the Slovak goal and took a ridiculous path to the red line. It bounced off the stick of goalie Michal Pradel, then off the stick of Canadian Jackson Smith. From there it bobbled high, hit the crossbar, bounced off Pradel’s back, and landed over the goal line.
Czech coach Martin Dendis challenged the play, unsuccessfully, and Canada added to its lead on the ensuing man advantage. After a turnover at the Canada blue line, Cootes fed Ryan Lin on an odd-man rush, ending a period the Slovaks would like to forget.
Most of the second period was uneventful, which was just the way the Slovaks wanted it after a wild and unpleasant opening 20 minutes. Dendis pulled Pradel in favour of Samuel Hrenak, who wasn’t nearly as busy.
Things opened in the final few minutes when the Slovaks drew the only penalty of the period. Canada made it 6-0 on the goal of the tournament so far. Schmidt dangled into the Slovak end, drew a defender out of his jock and outwaited Hrenak before slipping the puck into the open net at 17:06.
Ivankovic was then called on to make his best save, snapping his glove out to grab a shot off the stick of Alex Misiak from in front. Moments later, though, the Slovaks got their first goal of the night on a nice pass from Adam Nemec to Tomas Chrenko, who nudged the puck in the back side to make it a 6-1 game.
Slovakia got another back early in the third on a nice solo effort by Tomas Chrenko, but Quinn Beauchesne's long shot restored the five-goal bulge just 43 seconds later. Thirty seconds later, Cootes drilled a wrister from the slot to make it 8-2, and less than two minutes later he converted from the crease to add to the goalscoring.
"We prepared of the game like it was the gold-medal game, and after the first period we had five goals," Katzin added. "We were a little off in the second but got the puck behind their defence and getting guys in front of the net. It wasn't an easy win. They gave us a good push at the start, but we're a good team and work hard."
The win kept Canada’s perfect record intact, now having won all 13 meetings between the teams, this despite having only 16 players in the lineup tonight. Canadian management is monitoring CHL playoffs and will add players any day now.
"I like ice time," said Canadian forward Lev Katzin. "We all like ice time. It's good at the start and gets you into the game quickly. You can't not be engaged when you have that few players, but we'll be happy to get more guys. But it was a fun game. It's good to play tired and learn how to make the right decisions when you're tired."
"We had a good start and didn't score, and that cost us the game," offered Slovakia's captain Luka Radivojevic. "Then we took some penalties and they have a good power play. That's hockey. We have to focus on the next game. We always try our best, and we had some good moments 5-on-5. But for now we have t forget this and move on."
Canada didn’t get its first goal until 12:34, but as it turned out that opener loosened up the Canadian offence. Katzin found Cameron Schmidt in front on a power play to make it 1-0. Less than four minutes later, another man advantage succeeded. This time, Katzin finished the play after a clever back pass in the slot by captain Braeden Cootes.
Just 56 seconds later, it was 3-0 on a weird play. The puck came in front of the Slovak goal and took a ridiculous path to the red line. It bounced off the stick of goalie Michal Pradel, then off the stick of Canadian Jackson Smith. From there it bobbled high, hit the crossbar, bounced off Pradel’s back, and landed over the goal line.
Czech coach Martin Dendis challenged the play, unsuccessfully, and Canada added to its lead on the ensuing man advantage. After a turnover at the Canada blue line, Cootes fed Ryan Lin on an odd-man rush, ending a period the Slovaks would like to forget.
Most of the second period was uneventful, which was just the way the Slovaks wanted it after a wild and unpleasant opening 20 minutes. Dendis pulled Pradel in favour of Samuel Hrenak, who wasn’t nearly as busy.
Things opened in the final few minutes when the Slovaks drew the only penalty of the period. Canada made it 6-0 on the goal of the tournament so far. Schmidt dangled into the Slovak end, drew a defender out of his jock and outwaited Hrenak before slipping the puck into the open net at 17:06.
Ivankovic was then called on to make his best save, snapping his glove out to grab a shot off the stick of Alex Misiak from in front. Moments later, though, the Slovaks got their first goal of the night on a nice pass from Adam Nemec to Tomas Chrenko, who nudged the puck in the back side to make it a 6-1 game.
Slovakia got another back early in the third on a nice solo effort by Tomas Chrenko, but Quinn Beauchesne's long shot restored the five-goal bulge just 43 seconds later. Thirty seconds later, Cootes drilled a wrister from the slot to make it 8-2, and less than two minutes later he converted from the crease to add to the goalscoring.
"We prepared of the game like it was the gold-medal game, and after the first period we had five goals," Katzin added. "We were a little off in the second but got the puck behind their defence and getting guys in front of the net. It wasn't an easy win. They gave us a good push at the start, but we're a good team and work hard."
Canada vs Slovakia - 2025 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship
OF