Malcolm Spence wins Canada gold in final seconds of OT

Canada won its 24th Hlinka Gretzky Cup with a goal just seven seconds before the end of overtime thanks to a spectacular solo effort by Malcolm Spence. Home team Czechia was left devasted after failing to capitalise on a late overtime powerplay but take a medal from the tournament for the first time in six years. The Czechs played solid defensively in the first period which, combined with a great Jakub Milota in net, was the key to their first-period shutout despite Canada outshooting and outskating them in the opening frame. Instead of controlling play, the home team looked to threaten on counterattacks and breakaways and that’s exactly how they got their 1-0 lead when sniper Adam Titlbach fired the puck past Carter George in the Canadian net to draw first blood. However, a firm talking to during the first intermission seemed to work for the Canadians who came back onto the ice all guns blazing. Cayden Lindstrom snuck behind the Czech defencemen to score the equaliser under 60 seconds into the second period before the visitors had a lengthy four-minute powerplay which they came close to utilising. They got another chance soon after – and this time Berkly Catton scored while a man up to put Canada into the lead for the very first time in the game with the clock showing 29 minutes of game time gone. The remainder of the second period saw activity and chances on both ends of the ice, but no more goals, as both sides headed for the locker rooms with the score 2-1 in Canada’s favour. Czechia pushed for an equaliser from the very start of the first period but had to wait until the final five minutes of regulation when Matěj Kubiesa was able to fire the puck in on the powerplay. With the score locked at 2-2 and 60 minutes of game time up, both teams headed out for 20 extra minutes of 3-on-3 overtime. The reduction in players on the ice opened up the play but that meant both goalies were being tested more often and had to be on top of their game. Milota pulled off some spectacular saves as did his Canadian counterpart George. The Czechs had a two-minute powerplay late into overtime but were unable to breakdown a fluid Canadian defence. In the final seconds of overtime, an offensive blunder by the Czechs was picked up by Malcolm Spence who sprinted for Milota’s net, pulled it wide, sent the goalie to the ice and fired it in high to score the gold-medal goal for the team in red and black.