Canada's Jake Neighbours opens the scoring in the first period, beating Samuel Hlavaj between the pads on a clear break.
photo: Matt Zambonin / IIHF
Jack Quinn scored the decisive goal in the 8th round of the shootout to give Canada a 2-1 win over Slovakia in Group B action in Riga. Quinn fired a shot over the shoulder of Samuel Hlavaj, while Martin Chromiak was stopped by Sam Montembeault with the final shot. Both teams had scored twice on their first five shots.
The game was a chippy affair and featured more than 27 minutes of power-play time. This was the result of 59 penalty minutes, including 14 minors and one major. Canada was 0-for-8 with the extra player, including that major as well as two lengthy two-player advantages and a power play in the overtime.
"It was a good game," Quinn said. "They’re a great team, and they played well defensively. We weren’t great on the power play and it was a hard-fought battle all the way to the end. Obviously, there can be some frustration when they’re playing good D like that and you can’t get things going, but that’s part of the game. We know we’re going to have some adversity, so you just try to stay positive and keep going."
"It was a great effort," said Slovakia's Simon Nemec, who was playing his first game after arriivng from North America. "We twice killed a 5-on-3 penalties and a 4-on-3 in overtime, so it was a great game for us. Our goaltender was great, and I think we helped him a lot. It shows that we can play against every team in this tournament. I think we could have won this one."
Shots favoured Canada, 44-24, but Hlavaj, making his senior debut, was sensational. The 21-year-old veteran of five junior events for the Slovaks (two U18s and three World Juniors) kept his team in the game time and again with solid positioning and quick reflexes and controlled the puck at all times without coughing up dangerous rebounds.
The win gives Canada a 2-1-0-0 record and top spot in Group B while the Slovaks drop to 1-0-1-1 and sits in fourth place.
Canada now has a day off before playing Kazakhstan on Wednesday while the Slovaks enjoy a two-day break before tangling with the Swiss on Thursday.
"It was a hard-fought game, said Marek Hrivik of Slovakia. "We knew we’d be playing against a gritty team. They were strong on the puck in the battles, and we had to match that to stay in the game and, for the most part, I think we did, but we kind of sold ourselves short with the penalties we took. I think we gave them a lot of momentum. We’ve got to change that because this was the third game in a row we put ourselves in that situation. It’s hard to go like that the whole tournament."
Canada had a chance early on with a 5-on-3 for 28 seconds, but despite some good chances they couldn’t score. Soon after, however, they took advantage of a Slovakia turnover at the blue line. Jack McBain spotted Jake Neighbours wide open to the far side of the ice and got him the puck, and Neighbours went in alone and beat Hlavaj with a shot between the pads at 7:46.
Slovakia had its chances, however. Matus Sukel was stoned by Montembeault, and Libor Hudacek was checked adroitly by Tyler Toffoli on a partial break. But they managed to capitalize on a late power play thanks to a sensational three-way passing play east-west. Hudacek wired a pass from one side boards to the other, and in one motion Marek Hrivik went back the other way to Peter Cehlarik to the back side of the goal. Cehlarik redirected the puck in at 16:08, making it a 1-1 game.
The second period was a series of power plays resulting from six minors and a major. The minors were split evenly between the teams, but try as they might the PP was outdone each time by the PK. Again, Canada had a two-player advantage, this for 49 seconds, but some good movement didn’t result in any goals. Michael Carcone had the best chance from in close, but Hlavaj kicked out the left pad for a nice save.
McBain also went to the bench frustrated after going in alone and firing a shot well wide, but the game might have turned late in the period when Hudacek received a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding Mackenzie Weegar. But Hlavaj stole the show, making one save after another, and getting a bit of a break when Carcone hit the post near the end of the period. In all, the Slovak goalie was 18-for-18 on shots and was the lone reason the score remained tied after two periods.
In the third, Canada ended up on the short end of the penalty calls, incurring three of four, but the PK, and Montembeault, came to the rescue and set up the overtime and shootout.
The game was a chippy affair and featured more than 27 minutes of power-play time. This was the result of 59 penalty minutes, including 14 minors and one major. Canada was 0-for-8 with the extra player, including that major as well as two lengthy two-player advantages and a power play in the overtime.
"It was a good game," Quinn said. "They’re a great team, and they played well defensively. We weren’t great on the power play and it was a hard-fought battle all the way to the end. Obviously, there can be some frustration when they’re playing good D like that and you can’t get things going, but that’s part of the game. We know we’re going to have some adversity, so you just try to stay positive and keep going."
"It was a great effort," said Slovakia's Simon Nemec, who was playing his first game after arriivng from North America. "We twice killed a 5-on-3 penalties and a 4-on-3 in overtime, so it was a great game for us. Our goaltender was great, and I think we helped him a lot. It shows that we can play against every team in this tournament. I think we could have won this one."
Shots favoured Canada, 44-24, but Hlavaj, making his senior debut, was sensational. The 21-year-old veteran of five junior events for the Slovaks (two U18s and three World Juniors) kept his team in the game time and again with solid positioning and quick reflexes and controlled the puck at all times without coughing up dangerous rebounds.
The win gives Canada a 2-1-0-0 record and top spot in Group B while the Slovaks drop to 1-0-1-1 and sits in fourth place.
Canada now has a day off before playing Kazakhstan on Wednesday while the Slovaks enjoy a two-day break before tangling with the Swiss on Thursday.
"It was a hard-fought game, said Marek Hrivik of Slovakia. "We knew we’d be playing against a gritty team. They were strong on the puck in the battles, and we had to match that to stay in the game and, for the most part, I think we did, but we kind of sold ourselves short with the penalties we took. I think we gave them a lot of momentum. We’ve got to change that because this was the third game in a row we put ourselves in that situation. It’s hard to go like that the whole tournament."
Canada had a chance early on with a 5-on-3 for 28 seconds, but despite some good chances they couldn’t score. Soon after, however, they took advantage of a Slovakia turnover at the blue line. Jack McBain spotted Jake Neighbours wide open to the far side of the ice and got him the puck, and Neighbours went in alone and beat Hlavaj with a shot between the pads at 7:46.
Slovakia had its chances, however. Matus Sukel was stoned by Montembeault, and Libor Hudacek was checked adroitly by Tyler Toffoli on a partial break. But they managed to capitalize on a late power play thanks to a sensational three-way passing play east-west. Hudacek wired a pass from one side boards to the other, and in one motion Marek Hrivik went back the other way to Peter Cehlarik to the back side of the goal. Cehlarik redirected the puck in at 16:08, making it a 1-1 game.
The second period was a series of power plays resulting from six minors and a major. The minors were split evenly between the teams, but try as they might the PP was outdone each time by the PK. Again, Canada had a two-player advantage, this for 49 seconds, but some good movement didn’t result in any goals. Michael Carcone had the best chance from in close, but Hlavaj kicked out the left pad for a nice save.
McBain also went to the bench frustrated after going in alone and firing a shot well wide, but the game might have turned late in the period when Hudacek received a five-minute major and game misconduct for boarding Mackenzie Weegar. But Hlavaj stole the show, making one save after another, and getting a bit of a break when Carcone hit the post near the end of the period. In all, the Slovak goalie was 18-for-18 on shots and was the lone reason the score remained tied after two periods.
In the third, Canada ended up on the short end of the penalty calls, incurring three of four, but the PK, and Montembeault, came to the rescue and set up the overtime and shootout.
Slovakia vs Canada - 2023 IIHF WM
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