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Canada upset by Czechs in World Juniors quarter-final

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Jan 2 2024, 4:01 pm
Canada upset by Czechs in World Juniors quarter-final

Canada’s hopes for a third straight gold medal at the World Juniors are over after a crushing 3-2 loss to Czechia.

This game appeared to be headed for overtime before a late goal with just 11 seconds remaining in the third from Jakub Stancl sealed the deal for the Czechs.

Things weren’t smooth sailing for Team Canada early in today’s quarter-final, as they found themselves down 1-0 less than 10 minutes in after Stancl was able to beat Mathis Rousseau on the short side. Later in the period, Tomas Cibulka beat Rousseau on a screened shot from the point to give Czechia a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

While the two goals were both ones Rousseau would have liked back, he kept the game close thanks to a big save on a penalty shot from Dominik Rymon when the score was 1-0 for Czechia.

The second period saw the Canadians find their footing, as less than five minutes in, Matthew Wood scored his first of the tournament to cut the lead in half. The score remained 2-1 Czechia until late in the second frame, as Jake Furlong got his first point of the tournament on a shot from distance that beat a screened Michael Hrabal to tie the game up 2-2 heading into the third.

This was an extremely disappointing loss for the Canadians, who after a slow start, appeared to be in control for the majority of the outing. Nonetheless, their brief two-year stint as gold medal winners has come to an end.

Ironically, the Canadian gold-medal victory came at last year’s tournament versus Czechia. That game went to overtime, with Dylan Guenther scoring the winner. This year, the Czechs got the last laugh and will play in the semifinals on Thursday as a result.

Colton PankiwColton Pankiw
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