photo: Matt Zambonin/IIHF
Sidney Crosby and Macklin Celebrini combined for two spectacular goals as Canada rallied from 2-0 down to defeat Czechia 3-2 in the final game of the preliminary round.
The loss leaves Czechia in third place, and they now will play Finland in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Canada knew before the game they would be playing the United States.
The stats from this game add to a unique page in Crosby's international career. After seven games, he has no goals but seven assists, while Celebrini has three goals and nine points.
"It's not quite the Olympics, but it's still an amazing tournament," Celebrini said. "There's a lot of great players here... you can't not soak up all the little details and the stuff that they do."
"We battled, but it's always hard to play back-to-back games, and Canada has a pretty good team," said Czech goalie Dominik Pavlat. "They play with a high intensity. It was a tough game, but I'm so proud with how we played, and now we're going to the quarter-finals."
It was a game that had more meaning for the Czechs than the Canadians. Canada had secured first place in Group B, but the Czechs were in a position to move up to second place, ahead of Norway. The higher placing would mean facing the third team in Group A, Latvia, rather than facing either Switzerland or Finland in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Canada had more of the puck in the opening period, but the Czechs did a masterful job of playing a simple game. When in doubt, chip it out. Chip it over, chip it in. Nothing fancy. The result was a mere four shots on goal for Canada.
As well, the Czechs capitalized on their best scoring chance. Marek Alscher wound up with the puck in the high slot off a broken play, and he snapped a shot over Jet Greaves’s shoulder at 6:03.
Canada nearly tied it soon after when Crosby made a perfect pass to Dylan Cozens heading to the net, but Cozens missed the open side and fired it into the pads of Pavlat.
The Canadians continued to have the puck most of the time in the second, but for the longest time the Czechs continued to play effective defence. Crosby made another brilliant pass from along the boards, his back to the goal. He made a hard back pass between his legs to Celebrini in front, but as Celebrini spun he shot into Havlat’s stomach.
And then, in the blink of an eye, the Czechs struck again. Darnell Nurse failed to clear the puck and a quick shot from Dominik Kubalik squirted between Greaves’s pads and in at 8:18.
The Canadians finally got on the board at 14:02, and not surprisingly it was another brilliant pass from Crosby to Celebrini that will make the highlight reels for all time. Cozens made the first pass to Crosby who put the puck on Celebrini’s stick in one motion, and he in turn number 71 fired into the empty net.
It was a “wow” kind of goal, and soon after Canada earned their first power play of the night. Crosby again moved the puck around nicely, but the Czechs recovered enough to kill it off and head to the dressing room with a 2-1 lead.
The 87-71 combination was at it again early in the third, tying the game at 7:14. Crosby did a little dance in the slot with the puck, waited for the young captain to find the area to the back of Havlat, and then fed him a tap-in pass to make it a 2-2 game.
The Canadians took their first lead at 9:25 off the rush. John Tavares brought the puck in, dropped it to Parker Wotherspoon, and went to the net. Wotherspoon got it back to him, and Tavares made a move and tucked it in to make it 3-2. That confident Czech team from the first period was struggling now in the third.
The loss leaves Czechia in third place, and they now will play Finland in the quarter-finals on Thursday. Canada knew before the game they would be playing the United States.
The stats from this game add to a unique page in Crosby's international career. After seven games, he has no goals but seven assists, while Celebrini has three goals and nine points.
"It's not quite the Olympics, but it's still an amazing tournament," Celebrini said. "There's a lot of great players here... you can't not soak up all the little details and the stuff that they do."
"We battled, but it's always hard to play back-to-back games, and Canada has a pretty good team," said Czech goalie Dominik Pavlat. "They play with a high intensity. It was a tough game, but I'm so proud with how we played, and now we're going to the quarter-finals."
It was a game that had more meaning for the Czechs than the Canadians. Canada had secured first place in Group B, but the Czechs were in a position to move up to second place, ahead of Norway. The higher placing would mean facing the third team in Group A, Latvia, rather than facing either Switzerland or Finland in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Canada had more of the puck in the opening period, but the Czechs did a masterful job of playing a simple game. When in doubt, chip it out. Chip it over, chip it in. Nothing fancy. The result was a mere four shots on goal for Canada.
As well, the Czechs capitalized on their best scoring chance. Marek Alscher wound up with the puck in the high slot off a broken play, and he snapped a shot over Jet Greaves’s shoulder at 6:03.
Canada nearly tied it soon after when Crosby made a perfect pass to Dylan Cozens heading to the net, but Cozens missed the open side and fired it into the pads of Pavlat.
The Canadians continued to have the puck most of the time in the second, but for the longest time the Czechs continued to play effective defence. Crosby made another brilliant pass from along the boards, his back to the goal. He made a hard back pass between his legs to Celebrini in front, but as Celebrini spun he shot into Havlat’s stomach.
And then, in the blink of an eye, the Czechs struck again. Darnell Nurse failed to clear the puck and a quick shot from Dominik Kubalik squirted between Greaves’s pads and in at 8:18.
The Canadians finally got on the board at 14:02, and not surprisingly it was another brilliant pass from Crosby to Celebrini that will make the highlight reels for all time. Cozens made the first pass to Crosby who put the puck on Celebrini’s stick in one motion, and he in turn number 71 fired into the empty net.
It was a “wow” kind of goal, and soon after Canada earned their first power play of the night. Crosby again moved the puck around nicely, but the Czechs recovered enough to kill it off and head to the dressing room with a 2-1 lead.
The 87-71 combination was at it again early in the third, tying the game at 7:14. Crosby did a little dance in the slot with the puck, waited for the young captain to find the area to the back of Havlat, and then fed him a tap-in pass to make it a 2-2 game.
The Canadians took their first lead at 9:25 off the rush. John Tavares brought the puck in, dropped it to Parker Wotherspoon, and went to the net. Wotherspoon got it back to him, and Tavares made a move and tucked it in to make it 3-2. That confident Czech team from the first period was struggling now in the third.