Canada secured a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic in their final preliminary game at the Men’s World Hockey Championship on Tuesday, with Tyler Myers scoring the winning goal just over four minutes into the third period. Peyton Krebs and Lawson Crouse were also on target for Canada, while Samuel Montembeault faced just 17 shots and Scott Laughton had two assists. Martin Kaut replied for the Czechs, who got 41 saves from Karel Vejmelka. Switzerland clinched top spot in Group B with 19 points from six regulation victories. Canada finished second with 15 points, two more than the third-place Czechs. Canada will now face defending champions Finland in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Despite losing their last two games, Canada started the game in Riga with a strong first period. “We really set the tone and established the way we wanted to play in the first period,” commented Krebs. “We got away from that a bit in the second, but we dialed things back in the third and found a way to put the puck in the net. That has been a bit of a missing ingredient for us in this tournament, but we got a big goal [from Myers].”
Canada’s head coach, André Tourigny, also praised the team for their progression throughout the competition. The Canadians had been on a two-game losing streak, falling 3-2 to Switzerland and 3-2 in a shootout to Norway, prior to Tuesday’s game. “The past two games did not go the way we wanted, so we wanted to play a hard game tonight and play well defensively,” commented Tourigny.
Canada will now face a tough challenge in defending champions Finland, who finished third in Group A after securing a 7-1 win over Denmark in their final preliminary round. “It’s going to be fun playing against the Finns in Finland because we know the arena is going to be buzzing,” said Myers. “They play a really hard game and they are not going to give you much, so we are going to have to work hard for every inch on the ice.”
In other games, the United States finished the group stage with a perfect record after beating Sweden 4-3, with Dylan Samberg scoring in overtime to clinch a first place finish for the Americans in Group A. The U.S will now face the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Germany secured a quarterfinal berth by shutting out France 5-0 in their final group game.
