Canada rebounds from stunning loss at hockey worlds, advances to quarterfinals
Men to face defending champions Finland after Tyler Myers caps win over Czechs
Tyler Myers scored the winning goal just over four minutes into the third period as Canada ended preliminary-round play at the men's world hockey championship Tuesday with a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic.
Peyton Krebs and Lawson Crouse, into an empty net, also scored for Canada in Riga, Latvia. Scott Laughton had two assists, while Samuel Montembeault faced just 17 shots.
"We really set the tone and established the way we wanted to play in the first period," Krebs said. "We got away from that a bit in the second, but we dialed things back in the third and found a way to put the puck in the net.
"That has been a bit of a missing ingredient for us in this tournament, but we got a big goal [from Myers]."
Martin Kaut replied for the Czechs, who got 41 saves from Karel Vejmelka.
Canada finished second in Group B with 15 points (four regulation wins, one overtime win, one overtime loss, one regulation loss), two more than the third-place Czechs.
WATCH | Canada to face Finland in quarterfinals after beating Czechs:
The Czech Republic fell to fourth place after co-host Latvia handed Switzerland its first loss with a 4-3 overtime win. Latvia and the Czechs both finished with 13 points, but Latvia had more wins.
The Canadians entered Tuesday's contest on a two-game losing streak, falling 3-2 to Switzerland and 3-2 in a shootout to Norway.
"The past two games did not go the way we wanted, so we wanted to play a hard game tonight and play well defensively," Canada head coach André Tourigny said.
"I am certainly happy about the progression of our team. We were strong on the forecheck and won a lot of battles. We were not as good as we needed to be in the second period, but we came back strong in the third."
Switzerland clinched top spot in the group with 19 points from six regulation victories.
Canada will face defending champion and co-host Finland, which was locked into third in Group A heading into Tuesday's games, in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Finns finished their preliminary round with a 7-1 rout of Denmark.
"[Finland] plays a really hard game and they are not going to give you much, so we are going to have to work hard for every inch on the ice," Myers said. "It's going to be fun playing against the Finns in Finland because we know the arena is going to be buzzing."
WATCH l Canadian men bow to Norway in shootout:
U.S. ends group stage unbeaten
Dylan Samberg scored in overtime and the United States beat Sweden 4-3 on Tuesday to finish the group stage with a perfect record in Tampere, Finland.
Samberg's winner from the slot 1:37 into overtime clinched first place for the United States in Group A, two points in front of Sweden, ahead of Thursday's quarterfinal games.
The Americans lead 3-1 in the third period but Leo Carlsson scored his second goal before Timothy Liljegren equalized with 2:31 left to force overtime.
Nick Bonino and Conor Garland had answered Carlsson's opener with power play goals and Lane Hutson stretched the advantage to 3-1 on a breakaway.
The U.S. will play the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. Sweden faces co-host Latvia, which reached the quarterfinals by beating Switzerland 4-3 in overtime.
Germany secures quarterfinal berth
Germany shut out France 5-0 in its final group game on Tuesday to clinch a place in the quarterfinals.
John Peterka a goal and an assist and goaltender Mathias Nederberger stopped 13 shots for the shutout as Germany finished fourth in Group A with 12 points.
The Germans will next face Group B winner Switzerland.
Slovakia kept its quarterfinal hopes alive by beating Norway 4-1 in Riga, Latvia. Slovakia is tied for fourth in Group B with co-host Latvia, which takes on Switzerland later Tuesday.
In Group A, co-host Finland plays Denmark.
With files from CBC Sports and The Associated Press
