2016-17 National Men's Under-18 Team

Canada 3 - Slovakia 2 (OT)

COMTOIS SCORES IN OT TO HELP CANADA WIN HLINKA OPENER

DAVID BRIEN

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – Maxime Comtois (Longueuil, Que./Victoriaville, QMJHL) scored his second goal of the game 4:31 into overtime, leading Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team to a 3-2 win over Slovakia to kick off the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup on Monday.

Comtois’ first goal gave the Canadians a 2-0 lead less than seven minutes into the first period, but a pair of Slovak goals in the last 10 minutes of the third pushed the game to an extra period.

With a shootout less than a minute away, Comtois stripped a Slovak defenceman deep in the offensive zone and beat goaltender Juraj Sklenar from in close for the game-winner.

Canada wasted no time taking the lead; Owen Tippett (Peterborough, Ont./Mississauga, OHL) took a pass in the high slot from Michael Rasmussen (Surrey, B.C./Tri-City, WHL) and wired a shot past Sklenar just 69 seconds after the puck dropped.

Comtois doubled the lead 5:16 later, firing a one-timer off a feed from Nick Suzuki (London, Ont./Owen Sound, OHL) that found its way through Sklenar for a 2-0 advantage after one period.

After a scoreless second period that saw the tournament co-hosts outshoot Canada 9-8, the Slovaks finally found a way past Canadian netminder Ian Scott (Calgary, Alta./Prince Albert, WHL) midway through the third; Michael Ivan cruised through the slot and redirected in a pass from Milos Roman to make it a 2-1 game.

With Sklenar on the bench for an extra attacker in the dying minutes, Filip Krivosik tipped a shot from Ivan past Scott to bring Slovakia even with just 62 seconds to go, setting up Comtois’ overtime heroics.

Canada finished with a 43-23 advantage in shots on goal in a game largely played at five-on-five; both teams had just a single opportunity on the power play, both in the first period.

The Canadians are right back to action Tuesday at Slovnaft Arena in Bratislava, taking on Russia in the early game in Group B (5:30 a.m. ET/2:30 a.m. PT).

Game Information
Game # 3 Round Preliminary
Arena Slovnaft Arena Location Bratislava, SVK
Date Monday, August 8, 2016 Time 11:30 a.m. ET

 

Box Score 1 2 3 OT Total
CAN 2 0 0 1 3
SVK 0 0 2 0 2

 

Goals & Penalties
First Period
Goals :
01:09 CAN Owen Tippett (Michael Rasmussen, Joseph Veleno)
06:25 CAN Maxime Comtois (Nick Suzuki, MacKenzie Entwistle)

Penalties :
07:21 SVK  Havrila Hrehorčák (Holding)
17:15 CAN MacKenzie Entwistle (Slashing)
Second Period
Goals :
None

Penalties :
None
Third Period
Goals :
10:52 SVK Michal Ivan (Milos Roman, Filip Krivosik)
18:58 SVK Filip Krivosik (Michal Ivan)

Penalties :
None
Overtime
Goals :
04:31 CAN Maxime Comtois

Penalties :

None

 

Goaltenders
CAN Ian Scott
SVK Juraj Sklenár

 

Shots on Goal 1 2 3 OT Total
CAN 17 8 13 5 43
SVK 4 9 9 1 23
Videos
Photos
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 3 – CZE 2 (Gold Medal)
Spence scored overtime winner to lead Canada to gold.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 7 – USA 2 (Semifinal)
Canada scored five straight to advance to the gold medal game.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 5 – SUI 0 (Preliminary)
Catton scored twice as Canada finished atop Group B.
2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup: CAN 14 – SVK 4 (Preliminary)
Ritchie finished with four three to lead Canada to its first win.
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