Kent Johnson was the tournament’s signature scorer, Mason McTavish is officially the record holder and Jack Thompson quietly collected three assists as Canada overcame its first deficit from the world juniors to beat the Czech Republic 5-1 on Saturday night in Rogers Place. Johnson, the burly Columbus Blue Jackets prospect and former Michigan Wolverine, has accomplished much with his lacrosse-style goal that has become enshrined in hockey vernacular as “The Michigan.” With a quick piece of the puck under the bar, Johnson paid homage to his old college, gave real life to a WJC tournament that can use every bit of juice it can get, and might as well put a dollar or two on the his coach’s pocket. [brightcove videoID=6310851704112 playerID=JCdte3tMv height=360 width=640] “I won the coaches’ vote on who would be the first player to do it between him and [McTavish]Canadian bench boss Dave Cameron said. Of course, all of that is secondary to the fact that, with exactly 60 seconds left in the opening frame, Johnson’s wild tally gave Canada a 2-1 lead after falling behind 1-0, giving up a shorthanded one. Martin Rysavy just 46 seconds into a five-minute power play. The team looked rattled after the shorty, failing to muster much with the man advantage after Jaroslav Chmelar was given the boot for a blindside hit on fellow New York Rangers prospect Brennan Othmann. And while Canada managed to equalize when McTavish scored the first of his two goals, Czech goalkeeper Tomas Suchanek was standing on his head and it was beginning to feel like this could be one of those nights for a Canadian team that she was stolen. a handful of five-star opportunities. “Unbelievable,” Othmann said of Suchanek’s play early. “I looked [McTavish] and I said, “Okay, we have a game.” In fact, moments before Johnson’s goal, Suchanek denied him on a one-meter with a positively silly glove save. After the ensuing faceoff, however, the puck found its way behind the net, where Johnson came in, scooped it up and sent it into the net, sending what was clearly the largest crowd of the tournament into a frenzy. “It happened very quickly,” Johnson said. “I think I got a loose puck behind the net and there was no D-man in the right post, so I went for it.” [brightcove videoID=6310855924112 playerID=JCdte3tMv height=360 width=640] The scorer’s reaction was as lively as that of his teammates and the fans, not only because he had scored the kind of goal he told Othman in training camp he wanted to try if the opportunity came, but because he finally punched. after a denial from Suchanek and no goals in Canada’s first two games. “I’d be pretty excited about a goal off my skate, too,” Johnson joked. The night really marked a jump for Johnson’s entire line, which features him on the left side, Tyson Foerster in the middle and Logan Stankoven on the right side. The only goal by any of those guys previously came from Stankoven on the power-play in Thursday’s 11-1 rout of Slovakia. While Canada had more than enough offense to get by, there was no question that this second unit needed to find another gear, and it did just that – Johnson set up Foerster for a beautiful one-meter to close out the scoring – against the best team Canada has seen so far. “This was a very good step for us,” Johnson said. “We were forever tonight.” If the positive results of the second line were a welcome change, it was exactly the same for McTavish on the front line with Othmann and Connor Bedard. While nothing could cover Johnson’s stunning goal, McTavish made it 4-1 on the stroke of half-time when he took a feed that was expertly winged by Bedard and slotted home to Suzanek himself. The Canadian captain opened the goalie’s floodgates and slid the puck into the back of the net for his sixth in three games. McTavish is likely to have four more games in Edmonton, meaning the all-time Canadian record of 10 goals – both John Anderson and Dale McCourt had that many in the 1977 event – is within striking distance. As beautiful as McTavish’s second goal was, his first was a greasy redirect on a point shot set up by Thompson. The defenseman, who is among nine new faces in this squad who were not part of the original Christmas squad, did a great job crossing the blue line and brought the puck through a maze of bodies to the net where McTavish could divert it home. for the type of accounting that is often needed to put things against a hot offer. That play combined with his other pair of assists and some key blocks highlighted why Cameron has been so impressed with Thompson so far. “He’s just a solid guy,” the coach said. “He made a big play in the [first] goal to reach the net”. Maybe Canada was always going to find a way to win this competition. Ultimately, the club ended up with 57 shots on goal. Still, even going through that little bit of adversity — falling behind early, having to really work to beat a goaltender — can help a team grow and make some progress toward that oft-cited goal of it grows a centimeter every day. “Obviously when you have a five-minute power play and you’re down 1-0 and you don’t end up scoring, it can kill you,” Bedard said. “But I thought we responded really well and it was great to see our bounce back.” The Canadians were also clearly happy to see the impact their game had on a crowd that was far livelier than anything they’d experienced at this somewhat lackluster summer event thus far. The third period even brought a few tries on the wave, a sure sign that excitement is building a bit as Canada plays its final qualifying game against Finland on Monday with top spot in the group almost certainly on the line. “It’s pretty cool,” Cameron said of the support. “It’s a lot of commitment for these guys to come in the summer, it’s really good hockey, it’s the best, a lot of guys from all the teams are going to play in the National Hockey League, so it’s an easy decision to come to the games in my opinion.”
