Canada delivered a dominant performance at the IIHF World Junior Championship, crushing Slovakia 7–1 in the quarterfinals Friday night in Minneapolis to book a spot in the semifinals.
A five-goal outburst in the first period put the game out of reach early for Team Canada. Cole Reschny opened the scoring, while Michael Misa, Sam O’Reilly, Porter Martone and Cole Beaudoin each recorded a goal and an assist. Tij Iginla and Brady Martin also scored, and goaltender Jack Ivankovic stopped 21 shots.
Slovakia’s Michal Pradel was pulled after allowing three goals on 11 shots, with Alan Lendak finishing the game in relief. Jan Chovan scored the lone Slovak goal late in the second period.
Canada’s fast start followed pre-game talk from Slovakia about a potential upset, something the Canadians quickly shut down with relentless pressure and clinical finishing. The win marked Canada’s first quarterfinal victory at the tournament since capturing gold in 2023, following two straight quarterfinal exits in recent years.
Canada will now face the Czech Republic in the semifinal on Sunday in St. Paul, seeking revenge after being eliminated by the Czechs in the quarterfinals in each of the past two tournaments. The other semifinal will see Sweden take on Finland, which eliminated the United States in overtime.
Team captain Porter Martone summed up the mindset heading into the next round: for Canada, it’s “gold medal or nothing.”