Canada secures top spot in Group A at IIHF Men’s Worlds with win over Czechia
Canada has secured first place in Group A at the IIHF Men’s World Championship in Prague, Czechia.
Dylan Cozens scored a pair of goals – including the game winner – in a 4-3 overtime victory over host Czechia on Tuesday. The win gives the Canadians a 7-0 record in preliminary play, earning 19 of a possible 21 points. The two missed points were due to two of their wins being decided in overtime.
The two teams were scoreless through a fast paced opening 40 minutes with shots just 15-12 in favour of Czechia. 54 seconds into the third, Canada went to the power play where Cozens received the puck at the top of the faceoff circle and ripped a wrist shot blocker side past Czechia netminder Lukas Dostal.
The Czechs were awarded a power play at 7:20 when Connor Bedard was called for cross checking. With nine seconds remaining on the man advantage, Necas found Dominik Kubalik with a cross ice feed to tie the match at 1-1.
Canada retook the lead at 11:01 when, following a battle along the sideboards, the puck was flipped to Dawson Mercer in front who beat Dostal with a move to his backhand. Then at 15:42, Brandon Hagel gave Canada a two-goal lead when he beat Dostal under his arm.
Czechia got back within one with a power play goal at 16:56 and then, with 1:49 remaining in the period and their goaltender pulled, Roman Cervenka beat Canadian netminder Jordan Binnington top corner to tie things at 3-3.
In overtime, Czechia headed to another power play 2:47 in. While shorthanded, Cozens scored his second of the game at 3:13 to give Canada the 4-3 win.
By locking in top spot in Group A, Canada will have the favourable matchups in the elimination round. The quarterfinals take place Thursday, May 23 followed by the semifinals on May 25. The bronze and gold medal matches take place May 26.
Cozens leads Canada to 3-2 win over Switzerland at IIHF Men’s Worlds
Canada improves its record to 6-0 at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in Prague, Czechia. Dylan Cozens scored twice and added an assist as the Canadians edged Switzerland 3-2 on Sunday to remain undefeated. With this result, the Swiss suffered their first loss in six games.
Cozens opened the scoring with a power-play goal just 1:42 into the first period. Switzerland’s Kevin Fiala equalized the score at 11:15, before Roman Loeffel put the Swiss ahead 2-1 at 5:03 into the second. Fiala’s kneeing major and subsequent game misconduct in the second provided an opportunity for Canada, who responded with two power-play goals.
Cozens levelled the score 2-2 at 8:26, with Nick Paul securing the eventual game-winner at 10:39 for Canada. Cozens, contributing with an assist, helped Canada maintain their one-goal lead heading into the third. Binnington had a blocker save on Sven Andrighetto on the Swiss penalty shot while shorthanded.
Canada killed off two Swiss power plays early in the third period before the Swiss returned the favour later in the period. Switzerland pulled goaltender Leonardo Genoni in favour of an extra attacker at 18:05 but couldn’t find the equalizing goal.
Andrew Mangiapane added three assists while John Tavares had two. All three Canadian goals came with the man advantage. Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington made 20 saves, including on a Swiss penalty shot in the second with the game tied 2-2.
Canada moves to the top of Group A standings with 17 points, two ahead of second-place Czechia. The Canadians will face off against Czechia on Tuesday. Switzerland sits with 14 points.
Fifth win secured as Canada downs Finland at IIHF Men’s Worlds
Canada rallied from behind to notch another victory on Saturday, defeating Finland with a final score of 5-3. Their undefeated streak continues after five games at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in Prague, Czechia.
The beginning of the match didn’t hint at such a turnaround. Coming off a surprising loss to Austria in their previous match, Finland got off to a flying start, dominating the opening minutes with the first 10 shots on goal. They capitalized on two of those shots, beating Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington to secure an early two-goal advantage within four minutes of play.
Canada refused to yield and regained the upper hand during the first period. Dylan Cozens notched his fourth goal of the tournament at 14 minutes and 53 seconds, slicing the deficit in half. Less than two minutes later, Brendon Tanev levelled the score on a swift two-on-one rush, with a video review confirming the puck had crossed the goal line.
The game tightened during the second period. Jesse Puljujarvi capitalized on a rebound from the boards, netting his second goal of the match and giving Finland the lead again with just under four minutes remaining in the second period.
However, momentum shifted as Bowen Byram received a major penalty for an infraction against Puljujarvi. Both teams played 4-on-4 for the next two minutes due to penalties on both sides. Canada controlled the puck well, and Owen Power tied the score with a precise wrist shot from the slot.
In the third period, Brandon Hagel made the difference with the winning goal, capitalizing on a setup from captain John Tavares. Dawson Mercer sealed the win with an empty-net goal.
Currently occupying the second position in Group A with 14 points from five games, Canada will face Switzerland, the group leaders, on Sunday, followed by a match against the Czech Republic on Tuesday to conclude the preliminary round.
Canada downs Norway for fourth win at IIHF Men’s Worlds
Canada had a strong defensive showing in a 4-1 win over Norway on Thursday at the IIHF Men’s World Championship in Prague, Czechia.
Canadian goaltender Nicolas Daws only had to face six shots in the victory and wasn’t tested at all until the third period. Shots in the game ended 33-6 in favour of Canada.
Canada has earned 11 of a possible 12 points through their first four games of the tournament, posting a 4-0 record. They missed out on a three-point win on Tuesday – a wild 7-6 victory over Austria – by requiring overtime.
It was a low event first period with shots just 6-0 in favour of Canada. Brandon Tanev opened the scoring at 11:50 to make it 1-0 after one. Defenseman Kaiden Guhle recorded an assist on the goal, giving him four assists and five points in his first four games at the worlds.
Canada generated a few good scoring chances in the middle frame but could only convert on one. 2:16 in, Andrew Mangiapane scored his first of the tournament to extend the lead to 2-0. Shots were 15-0 Canada in the period.
On just their second shot of the game, Norway’s Stian Solberg scored 2:47 into the third period to cut Canada’s lead to a goal. The goal gave the Norwegians some energy but Dylan Cozens scored shorthanded at 6:37 to swing some momentum back into Canada’s favour. Jared McCann secured the victory with an empty net goal with 90 seconds remaining.
Canada has three preliminary round games remaining, taking on Finland on Saturday, Switzerland on Sunday and wrapping things up on Tuesday against host Czechia. Canada and Finland have met in three of the past four gold medal games at this tournament.
Canada defeats Austria to stay undefeated at IIHF Men’s Worlds
Canada remains undefeated at the IIHF Men’s World Championship following a 7-6 overtime win over Austria on Tuesday in Prague, Czechia.
Just 15 seconds into overtime, Canadian captain John Tavares scored the winner to give his squad a third win in three preliminary round games. The goal came after Austria scored five times in the third period to force overtime.
Canada led 3-1 after the first period thanks to goals from Dylan Cozens, Kaiden Guhle and Bowem Byram. Cozens opened the scoring 6:34 into the frame and Guhle doubled the lead just under three minutes later to put the Canadians in control.
2:57 into the second period, Jared McCann showed off some nice hands, stick handling around Austrian goaltender David Madlener to make it 4-1.
Connor Bedard netted his fifth of the tournament near the midway point of the period and the scoring was rounded out by Pierre-Luc Dubois making it 6-1 with 2:04 remaining.
Austria scored two early goals in the third period to make it a 6-3 game and cut the deficit to two with 9:19 remaining. The Austrians got within one when Peter Schneider scored with 4:04 left and then Marco Rossi netted the equalizer with 49 seconds remaining, sending the match into overtime.
Tavares wasted little time in extra time, skating into the slot area and wiring a wrist shot past Madlener to give Canada a 7-6 win.
Canada returns to action on Thursday when they take on Norway.
Canada remains undefeated with win over Denmark
Canada moved to 2-0 in the preliminary round of the IIHF Men’s World Championship in Prague, Czechia after defeating Denmark 5-1 on Sunday.
Connor Bedard opened the scoring just 2:24 into the first period, scoring his third goal in two games at the competition.
Dylan Cozens made it 2-0 for Canada before the end of first period, scoring with 4:35 left to play to double the advantage for the defending champions.
Denmark got one goal back as Christian Wesje scored the lone goal of the second period, but Bedard would give Canada the two-goal insurance back in the third as he scored his fourth goal of the tournament 1:52 into the final frame.
Dawson Mercer added his first goal of the competition and a fourth of the game for Canada with two minutes to play.
Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his 14th career goal for Canada making it 5-1 with 20 seconds left.
Jordan Binnington started in goal for Canada and stopped 19 shots in the win.
Canada will face off against Austria next on May 14.
Canada takes down Great Britain in IIHF opener
Canada opened up the preliminary round of the IIHF Men’s World Championship with a 4-2 win over Great Britain on Saturday.
Despite giving up the game’s opening goal, Canada’s men’s national hockey team responded with three goals in the second period to take control. Canada controlled the pace and possession, outshooting the Brits 34-13 across 60 minutes.
For Team Canada, this game was especially noteworthy because of the national team debut of Connor Bedard, one of hockey’s brightest young stars who just finished his first NHL season.
Bedard netted two goals in the second period to put Canada firmly in control.
“It’s nice to score, but it’s not something I’m thinking about right now,” Bedard said. “This is our first game and we’ve got a lot of areas to improve.”
Brandon Hagel and Michael Bunting also added a goal. Canada goaltender Joel Hofer only had to make 13 saves in the win.
Canada will play seven round robins game before the quarter-finals, which they will qualify for if they finish within the top four teams of Group A.
