Canada blanks Czechs in world junior exhibition game

Mackenzie Blackwood recorded the shutout as Canada blanked the Czech Republic 1-0 on Sunday in an exhibition ahead of the world junior hockey championship.

Rourke Chartier scored the lone goal for the Canadians in the second period. Anthony Beauvillier fed Chartier with a back-door pass to give Canada a one-goal advantage.

Chartier, who plays for the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets, was cut from last year's world junior team. With the Canadians making final roster decisions Sunday tonight, Chartier hopes his performance against the Czechs was enough to stick around.

"I'm still going to be pretty nervous [on the three-hour bus ride to Helsinki], but hopefully it works out," Chartier said. "It's going to suck to anyone going home, but it's going to be a hard decision [for management], everyone played really hard. It's not fun being cut, and it's always been a goal to play for this team."

A total of 27 Canadian players made the trip to Finland for the three pre-competition games as Hockey Canada brass evaluates who will make the final 23-man roster for the Dec. 26-Jan. 5 tournament.

Canada opens the tournament against the United States on Boxing Day in Helsinki.

Vitek Vanecek started in net for the Czech Republic.

Canada finished the game 0-for-5 on the power play with the Czechs going scoreless on four opportunities.

The Canadians beat Belarus 7-1 in their first exhibition game on Saturday. Canada wraps up its exhibition schedule on Wednesday against Sweden.