Team Canada to play for bronze at IIHF Men’s Worlds
Team Canada will play for bronze at the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship in Prague, Czechia.
Canada fell 3-2 in a shootout to Switzerland in semifinal play on Saturday, pushing the defending champions into the bronze medal game. Canada was undefeated in the tournament entering the contest, which included a 3-2 win over the Swiss in the preliminary round.
Canada, who won gold at last year’s event, will look to medal for a fifth straight tournament. They’ll face Sweden, who fell 7-3 to host Czechia in Saturday’s other semifinal, in Sunday’s bronze medal match. Game time is 9:20 a.m. ET.
Canada trailed 2-0 after the first period thanks to Switzerland scoring a pair of power play goals. With 4:54 remaining in the period and not long after Brandon Tanev had a shorthanded breakaway, Kevin Fiala beat Canadian netminder Jordan Binnington high glove side to open the scoring. Then with 2:44 remaining and the Swiss on another man advantage, Nino Niederreiter redirected a Roman Josi point shot to make it 2-0.
The Canadian squad struggled to break through Switzerland’s strong defensive structure in the opening frame. Shots ended 17-8 in favour of the Swiss – who also had three power play opportunities.
The Swiss went to another power play early in the second period but it would be the Canadians generating the best scoring chance when Dawson Mercer was denied on an odd-man rush.
Canada couldn’t convert on back-to-back power plays later in the period but were able to get on the board with an even strength marker at 14:07. An Olen Zellweger point shot hit some traffic in front where Tanev was able to push it past Swiss goaltender Leonardo Genoni, making it 2-1.
The Canadians had a much stronger second period on offense, outshooting the Swiss 12-6.
4:03 into the third period, Canada went to another power play but were once again denied by Switzerland’s strong penalty kill. The Canadians controlled much of the play in the third and headed to another man advantage with 3:06 remaining after the Swiss flipped the puck out of play. Just under a minute into the power play, Connor Bedard fed John Tavares who beat Genoni with a quick shot from the bottom of the circle to make it a 2-2 game.
After Switzerland got caught for too many men late in the third, Canada was caught for the same infraction four minutes into a 10-minute overtime period. Canada, once again, had a quality shorthanded chance – this time from Dylan Cozens – but could not beat Genoni.
After overtime solved nothing, the Swiss grabbed a 2-1 lead in a best-of-five shootout. Dylan Cozens had to score in the fifth round to keep Canada alive but was denied by Genoni, giving Switzerland a 3-2 victory.
Switzerland will be looking for their first ever men’s worlds gold medal on Sunday. The Swiss, who have won silver three times, will take on Czechia in Sunday’s championship match at 2:20 p.m. ET.
Team Canada advances to semifinals at IIHF Men’s Worlds
Team Canada is off to the semifinals at the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship in Prague, Czechia.
Nick Paul scored a pair of goals while Jared McCann, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Dylan Guenther and Brandon Tanev added singles in Canada’s 6-3 win over Slovakia in quarterfinal play on Thursday. The victory pushes Canada into the semifinals, which will take place Saturday, May 25. The gold and bronze medal games will be held the following day.
It’s the ninth straight men’s worlds that Canada has advanced to at least the semifinals. They’ve played in each of the last four gold medal games, winning in 2023 and 2021.
Canada opened the scoring just 2:45 in when McCann flipped the puck over a diving Samuel Hlavaj in the Slovakian net, quickly making it 1-0. Soon after at 4:15, a point shot went though some traffic and produced a rebound that Dubois put in with a backhand shot to give Canada a 2-0 advantage.
The Slovakians got some momentum back when, at 7:56, a Peter Cehlarik shot went off Brandon Hagel’s stick and past Canadian netminder Jordan Binnington, making it a 2-1 game. The Slovaks nearly tied the game late in the period on a two-on-one but their scoring chance was interrupted by a perfectly placed Olen Zellweger stick.
Paul restored Canada’s two-goal lead 3:48 into the second period. Connor Bedard accepted a pass in the slot and then fed a wide open Paul at the bottom of the circle, scoring into a wide open net.
Slovakia was awarded the game’s first power play midway through the second but could not beat some strong Canadian defensive play. Shots were 13-9 in favour of Canada in the middle frame.
Canada went to a four-minute power play early in the third period but could not add to their lead. Shortly after the man advantage ended, Guenther redirected a pass from Paul to make it 4-1 and then, 20 seconds later at 6:40, Tanev backhanded a rebound in to give Canada a 5-1 advantage.
Slovakia quickly responded at 7:08 to cut Canada’s lead to 5-2. Then with 3:03 to play and Slovakia on a five-on-three power play, Marek Hrivik scored to get his squad back within two. The Slovaks pulled their netminder in the final minutes which allowed Paul to ice the game with 50 seconds remaining, making it a 6-3 final.
Canada remains undefeated at this year’s tournament following a 7-0 record in preliminary play, placing them atop Group A. The Canadians earned 19 of a possible 21 points, losing two points due to two of their victories coming in overtime.
