Brennan Othmann and Joshua Roy each scored and contributed a pair of helpers for Canada (2-0-0), while Connor Bedard, Will Cuylle, Logan Stankoven and Olen Zellweger each added one. Zack Ostapchuk also scored. Matej Kaslik gave up the only goal for Slovakia (0-0-2) midway through the second period. Making his first start of the tournament, Canada’s Dylan Garand made 22 saves. Tomas Bolo stopped 33 of 44 shots for Slovakia. The Canadians are coming off a decisive 5-2 win over Latvia on Wednesday, while Slovakia dropped a 5-4 decision to the Czech Republic on Tuesday. Canada resumes play against the Czech Republic (1-0-1) on Saturday. With just seconds left on the game clock, Ostapchuk picked up a loose puck at the side of the net and slid it around the front, past Bolo to seal the score at 11-1. Roy gave Canada a 10-1 lead with less than five minutes to start the game clock. William Dufour’s shot hit the Bolo pad and Roy picked up the rebound at the top of the crease, flicking it over the netminder as it fell to the ice. McTavish just celebrated after giving Canada a 9-1 cushion 3:44 into the third period. He found space between Bolo and the post for his fourth goal of the night, a strike that tied a Canadian record for most goals in a single game at world juniors. Other players to accomplish the feat are Mario Lemieux (1984), Brayden Schenn (2011) and Maxime Comtois (2019). McTavish completed his hat trick with 35 seconds left in the middle frame. Bedard took a hit in the neutral zone and sent a puck down the ice to give his teammates a two-man breakaway. Roy put a clean pass into McTavish’s tape and the 19-year-old Anaheim Ducks prospect put a shot past Bollo to give the Canadiens an 8-1 lead. About a dozen hats floated on the ice. It was McTavish’s backhand flick off the top of the crease 15:16 into the second that gave Canada a 7-1 cushion. Just 36 seconds earlier, Slovakia finally beat Garand after a battle down low. Kaslik picked up the puck and unleashed a shot that hit the goalie’s pad and the crossbar on its way into the net. A three-man breakaway set up McTavish’s first goal of the night 6:25 into the second. Donovan Sebrango sent him a lead and when he handled the puck, the Team Canada captain skated in, sending a rocket soaring off the side of the Bolo stick to extend the lead to 6-0. The second period was just over a minute in when Stankoven scored Canada’s fifth goal of the night on a five-on-three. Kent Johnson sent a shot into the Bolo board and Stankoven, who was at the side of the net, made a shot before the goalie could get back to his position. Canada was 1-for-4 on the power play and Slovakia went 0-for-3. After a slow start in Wednesday’s 5-2 win over Latvia, Canada was a force in the first period Thursday. The home nation took a 4-0 lead into the first intermission after Zellweger scored with just 43 seconds left in the opening frame. The defender had a shot from the chip markers and the puck appeared to mark another player in front of the net before hitting the post. Slovakia challenged the play for offside, but a video review found Zellweger’s goal to be good. A failed clearing attempt by Slovakia set up Canada’s third hit of the night. Bolo tried to send the puck deep into his own end, but Cuylle picked it up at the blue line and sent it to Othmann in the faceoff circle. Cuylle gave Canada a 2-0 lead less than three minutes earlier. Ridly Greig came out of the penalty box and hit a pass to Cuylle, who skated in on a breakaway himself and put a quick blast through Bolo’s pads. Slovakia had a breakaway of their own earlier in the first, but Garand read the play perfectly and the shot bounced off his pads to keep Canada ahead 1-0. For the second straight game, Bendar opened the scoring for the Canadians. 17-year-old center Regina Pats flipped the puck to McTavish, who cut it back to the receiver. Bedard capped the give-and-go by slotting a stunning shot past Bolo from the bottom of the circle 6:16 into the first period. Thursday’s early game saw Finland (2-0-0) battle the Czech Republic (1-0-1) for a 4-3 penalty shootout win. “During the game, we got better and better. And that’s the most important thing,” said Finland coach Andi Penanen. The Czech Republic and Canada will both be off on Friday before facing off on Saturday. The Czechs know they will have to raise their game for the match, forward Jiri Kulich said. “We just want to maintain our game,” he said. “It’s a big challenge, of course, and a big game. So we will do our best.” Switzerland (0-1-0) was set to battle defending champions the Americans (1-0-0) in the final match of the day on Thursday. On Friday, Austria (0-1-0) will face Sweden (1-0-0) and Slovakia will face Latvia (0-2-0). NOTES: McTavish leads the tournament in scoring with eight points (four goals, four assists). … The preliminary round continues through Monday, with the quarterfinals set for Wednesday. The semifinals are scheduled for August 19 and the medal matches will be held on August 20. … The 2022 tournament is being held in August after the original replay was canceled on December 29 after just four days due to a surge in COVID-19 cases among players and referees forcing games to be missed.
