ARTICLE

Canada finishes group stage unbeaten, Czechs to play for 5th

Aug 7, 2019 | Derek O´Brien

Canada completed a dominant group-stage performance and a nearly perfect goals-against total by defeating the Czech Republic 7-1 in Group A’s final game. Quinton Byfield scored twice and tournament scoring leader Hendrix Lapierre scored once and assisted twice in the victory. Canada finishes first in the group and will face Sweden in the semi-finals, while the Czechs finish third and will face the USA in the game for fifth place.

Game #11  •  We 7.8.2019  •  19:00  •  Minute-by-minute commentary  •  Video stream
Czech Republic
1:7
( 0:2, 0:2, 1:3)
Canada
Czech Republic:
Canada:
Shots: 21:42 (5:16, 6:12, 10:14).
Penalties: 5:8. PP goals: 0:2. SH goals: 0:1.
Referees: Jeřábek, Kika – Gebauer, Lederer. Attendance: 2128.

Photogallery

 

Report

Canada had already wrapped up top spot in the group with their second win yesterday, while the Czechs’ fate was sealed by Finland’s win over Switzerland earlier in the day, assuring the group hosts would finish third. However, that did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the Břeclav fans. A game against Canada is usually the hottest ticket of the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and this game drew a tournament-high 2,128 in attendance.

The Canadians started getting great chances right from the start, and the Czech relied on the goaltending of Jan Bednář to keep it scoreless. In the first 3:20 he stopped two breakaways, including one 2-on-nothing. It took until the last two minutes of the period before they finally broke through, and they did twice.

First it was Cole Perfetti with his tournament-leading fifth goal, taking a centring pass from Jamie Drysdale and firing it home from the slot with 1:52 on the clock. Then came some rough stuff and coincidental penalties were dished out, followed by a holding call against Tomáš Handl, and on the 4-on-3, Quinton Byfield’s initial shot went off the goalpost, but the rebound came right back to the highly ranked prospect and he buried it with just two seconds left in the period.

The Canadians charged out of the gate again in the second period, and Bednář had to be sharp to stop another drive from Perfetti. It was on the power play that the Canadians struck for the third time, and again it was Byfield from Hendrix Lapierre. Bednář refused to give up, though and just three minutes later he robbed Théo Rochette with the glove as he was falling forward.

For the first time in the game, the Czechs gave an offensive push midway through the second period and it was their top line leading the way, with shots from Tomáš Chlubna and Jan Myšák testing Tristan Lennox. But any momentum the Czech were gaining was cancelled by an unfortunate bounce off a stick in their own zone on a pass attempt by Connor McClennon that ended up in their net to make it 4-0.

By the end of the second period, the Canadians had shut out their opponents for eight straight periods. That streak lasted another 1:47 into the ninth period before Czech captain Michal Gut finally ended it - firing a long shot that Lennox stopped, then burying his own rebound.

The Canadians piled up the score after that. Lapierre scored on a shorthanded breakaway for his tournament-leading ninth point, and Ridly Greig and Jean-Luc Foudy rounded out the scoring.

Reactions

KarelBeran (head coach, Czech Republic): "Canada is a great team. They showed that against the Finns and the Swiss. The turning point was the second goal after a completely unnecessary penalty. Then the fourth goal came after another bad penalty plus one shorthanded goal. We cannot afford these kinds of mistakes against such a strong team."

Michael Dyck (head coach, Canada): "I think it was a good game. The Czechs did not play badly, although it didn't seem like such a tough game for us. We were really strong on the power play, which I think was the most decisive factor. I'm pleased that this time we were more efficient and capitalized on our chances."

In brief

Pre-tournament games

21.6. - The final pre-tournament games will be played on Saturday, 29th July. The Czech Republic will host Canada in Břeclav at 18:30 CET, 12:30 ET. Meanwhile, Slovakia will host the USA in Trenčín at 17:00 CET. Coverage of these games will be available at eurolivescores.com/.

Instagram of HGC

1.6. - The official instagram of Hlinka Gretzky Cup is availible here.

Interested in history?

6.2. - Do you know who won the Cup last year? Which team has won the most gold medals? HERE you can review the history.
History of the hockey legend

Information about Ivan Hlinka

More about the legend