Canada’s quest for gold still on track at the world junior hockey championship.
Alexis Lafreniere scored and added an assist in his return from injury as part of a resounding 6-1 win over Slovakia in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Barrett Hayton added two goals and an assist for the Canadians, Connor McMichael, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Liam Foudy also scored, and Joel Hofer picked up his third straight win. Dylan Cozens, Jamie Drysdale and Calen Addison each added two assists.
Oliver Okuliar replied for the overmatched Slovaks. Samuel Hlavaj took the loss in goal. Lafreniere was back in the lineup after missing the last two matches with a knee injury suffered in a humiliating 6-0 setback to Russia last Saturday, Canada’s worst loss in the under-20 tournament’s 44-year history.
It was originally believed the Canadians would automatically get a rematch with the Russians, who defeated Switzerland 3-1 earlier Thursday, in the semifinals.
But they instead had to wait until later Thursday to find out their next opponent after the International Ice Hockey Federation recently changed its medal-round format — and neglected to update the official website — to a setup that sees teams reseeded after the quarters based on rankings at the event.
Lafreniere took up his usual spot on Canada’s top line with Hayton and Nolan Foote only to see the latter assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct for a check to the head on Slovakia’s Kristian Kovacik just 53 seconds into the first period at Ostravar Arena.
Sporting their black jerseys for a second straight game, the Canadians managed to kill off the penalty, with Hofer making a big save off the rush, and then grabbed a 1-0 lead at 6:47.
Cozens, who replaced Foote on the No. 1 trio, pressured the puck on the forecheck and Lafreniere passed quickly in front to Hayton, who beat Hlavaj for his team-leading fourth goal of the world juniors. Canada finished atop Group B with a 3-1 record, while Slovakia’s only win in Group A was a 3-1 triumph over Kazakhstan.
“We look after our players’ health,” added Solskjaer. “It’s been advised that he should do it as soon as possible.”
