Canada edges out Czechia in overtime Ice Hockey World Championship thriller

A crowd of 17,314 was treated to a close contest that remained scoreless until the third period; Canada’s Dylan Cozens scored twice, including the overtime winner, as his team pulled ahead of Czechia 4-3 to top Group A at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. The Canadians will now face Slovakia in the quarter-finals.

With Canada’s Pierre-Luc Dubois serving a holding minor in overtime, Cozens carried the puck into the Czech zone and beat Czech goalie Lukáš Dostál with a backhanded shot at 3:13 in overtime.

Tuesday’s group-stage finale leaves Canada atop the standings with 19 points. With 16 points, Czechia is now in second place, but they could finish third if Switzerland defeats Finland.

Despite trailing 3-1 with under five minutes remaining in regulation, Czechia perservered, scoring twice with an extra attacker on the ice to send the game into overtime.

Cozens leads the Worlds with eight goals. The Buffalo Sabres ace had seven goals and 13 points when Canada won silver at his last Worlds in 2022. He also has two World Junior medals (gold in 2020 and silver in 2021).

Dawson Mercer and Brandon Hagel added singles for Canada, while Dominik Kubalík, Ondřej Palát, and Roman Červenka scored for Czechia.

“I think we played pretty well in the first two periods,” Kubalík told reporters. “It was 0-0, and we talked about wanting to keep playing well defensively, and I think we did. Eventually, they scored the first one, but we came back. The atmosphere and the game were pretty good. It’s just too bad we couldn’t get enough goals.”

The matchup between the defending champions and the host nation was the marquee game of this year’s preliminary round.

Canada’s win spoiled the addition of superstar winger David Pastrňák into the Czech lineup after his Boston Bruins were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the second round of the NHL playoffs. Coming off his second consecutive season of 110 points or more, the 27-year-old joined NHL teammate Pavel Zacha on the top line with Červenka, the Czech captain and the leading scorer.

Czechia last beat Canada at the World Championship in 2010, a 3-2 group-stage decision. Canada has won nine straight encounters, including a 3-1 victory last year to end the preliminary round. The Czech team now faces off against the U.S. on Thursday.