U18 Worlds Recap: Canada 10, Czech Republic 3
Canada got five points from Connor Bedard to book its semifinal spot with a convincing win over the Czechs
GAME STATS: CANADA 10, CZECH REPUBLIC 3
FRISCO, Texas – Relentless, through and through.
The Czech Republic hung around, but Canada’s offensive tools proved too much to handle.
Connor Bedard (North Vancouver, B.C./Regina, WHL) led the way in the quarterfinals Monday at the 2021 IIHF U18 World Championship, posting two goals and three assists to send Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team through to the semifinals with a 10-3 win over the Czech Republic.
Shane Wright (Burlington, Ont./Kingston, OHL) increased his team-leading goal total to six, going top shelf on a late power play to get Canada to double digits for the second time in five games. The captain also added an assist.
Dylan Guenther (Edmonton, Alta./Edmonton, WHL) scored a pair of goals in the second period to increase his tournament total to four goals and three assists in five games.
Head coach Dave Barr elected to go with Benjamin Gaudreau (Corbeil, Ont./Sarnia, OHL) in goal for the second-straight game, and the netminder battled to another solid performance with 29 saves, including a point-blank glove stop off Lukas Pajer in the second period that is a save-of-the-tournament candidate.
🤯🛑 @BenGaudreau03 #U18Worlds https://t.co/TRrns5QmbF
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) May 3, 2021
It took just two minutes for the Canadians to break through when Wyatt Johnston (Toronto, Ont./Windsor, OHL) was left open in front to bury Bedard’s backhand pass.
Conner Roulette (Winnipeg, Man./Seattle, WHL) exemplified Canada’s relentless pursuit of the Czechs two minutes later when he forced an offensive-zone turnover and netted his first of the tournament on an unassisted effort.
A sublime deflection from Bedard off a net-bound effort from Danny Zhilkin (Mississauga, Ont./Guelph, OHL) chased Czech netminder Tomas Suchanek and gave Canada a commanding 3-0 lead before the seven-minute mark.
Pajer hammered a one-timer on a Czech power play 2:21 later to give them life, but Logan Stankoven had his snap shot trickle through Oliver Satny and over the line for a 4-1 Canadian advantage through 20 minutes.
The Czechs were disciplined, taking just two minor infractions, but Canada made both of its power plays count, running its tournament-best unit to 11-for-24 (45.8 per cent).
Guenther scored his first of two in the middle frame off Bedard’s shot that hit the post on Canada’s first man advantage before Jaroslav Chmelar made the most of a good bounce to pull another goal back for the Czechs minutes later.
The Edmonton product knocked a feed from Brennan Othmann (Pickering, Ont./Flint, OHL) past Satny with just 69 seconds left before the intermission to give Canada a four-goal lead after two.
Dylan Guenther picks up his second goal of the period to make it 6-2 Canada! #U18Worlds pic.twitter.com/Kx2dd9W5qO
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 3, 2021
The floodgates opened a little further early in the third period when Bedard and Ryan Winterton (Whitby, Ont./Hamilton, OHL) struck just 15 seconds apart to make it an 8-2 hockey game.
Gabriel Szturc’s tally at 8:33 of the final frame represented the Czechs’ last offensive move before Brett Harrison (Dorchester, Ont./Oshawa, OHL) and Wright capped off an efficient afternoon for the Canadians, who scored 10 times on 34 shots.
The semifinals are set for Wednesday, with Canada awaiting results from later in the day to determine its opponent.
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