Canada swiftly dispelled any anxiety entering the elimination round of the world hockey championship with a decisive 6-3 win over Slovakia in Thursday’s quarterfinal action. The defending champions surged ahead with two goals within the first four minutes and 15 seconds, ultimately leading 5-1 in the third period. This early cushion allowed them to withstand the Slovaks’ pushback comfortably.
“It was important for us to get out to a good start,” said Canada head coach Andre Tourigny. “The quarterfinal always comes with a lot of pressure, and it is a weird pressure because if you lose you are going home. Our start helped relieve that pressure a little bit. [The Slovaks] battled back, but we maintained our rhythm.”
Nick Paul spearheaded the Canadian offense with two goals and an assist. Dylan Guenther scored the game-winning goal and added an assist, while Jared McCann, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Brandon Tanev also found the back of the net for Canada.
“Right from the start, guys were winning their battles and we were able to move the puck up the ice and put pressure on [Slovakia],” Paul said. “We generated a lot of shots and tried to build momentum early because we knew they were a good team.”
Jordan Binnington made 18 saves for Canada, which will face Switzerland in the semifinals on Saturday at 12:20 p.m. ET.
Peter Cehlarik, Milos Kelemen, and Marek Hrivik scored for Slovakia, who mounted a late push with two goals before Paul sealed the victory with his second of the game into an empty net.
“We knew they were going to push back, but I thought we did a good job of playing a full 60 minutes,” Paul added.
Samuel Hlavaj was busy in Slovakia’s goal, making 37 saves.
In other quarterfinal action, Switzerland defeated Germany 3-1 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Christoph Bertschy led the Swiss with two goals, including a short-handed tally and an empty-netter. Nico Hischier of the New Jersey Devils also scored for Switzerland. Dominik Kahun scored for Germany.
The remaining quarterfinals later on Thursday saw the United States face the Czech Republic in Prague, while Sweden took on Finland in Ostrava.
Canada’s victory sets up a semifinal showdown with Switzerland, with the defending champions aiming