Canada Escapes Loss in OT Hlinka Memorial Win Over Slovakia

Canada's bid for their ninth straight Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup title started off well, but almost ended poorly, escaping with a 3-2 overtime victory over Slovakia.

Slovakia's bid to end a 27-game winless drought at the tournament they help co-host did not go so well. The game started off strong for Canada, who got one easily just 69 seconds into the battle. Mississauga Steelheads forward Owen Tippett got the game started with a quick wrist shot from the left face-off circle, cleanly beating goaltender Juraj Sklenar for the 1-0 lead early.

Then, at the 6:25 mark of the first, Maxime Comtois took a great pass from the corner from Nick Suzuki before firing the one-timer past Sklenar, giving Canada the 2-0 lead early in the game. For Canada, the team was heavily favoured heading in, especially after recording eight straight tournament gold medals.

While no goals were scored, Slovakia put on a better performance in the second. The struggling squad sent ten shots towards Ian Scott, who stood tall on every single one of them. The best came with about five minutes left in the middle frame when Peter Elias broke in and shot it towards the net, only to have Scott make a big glove save. Regardless, Slovakia kept the game close and prevented Canada from extending their lead, meaning that they would head into the final period with a chance at staying in the game.

Slovakia's persistence paid off, with the team finding a way to end Scott's shutout. With half of the third period still to go, Milos Roman and Michal Ivam made some great passes in front of the net before finding Filip Krivosik at the doorstep. Krivosik didn't need to do much for the goal, tapping the puck in to cut Canada's lead in half.

Canada fought back but didn't have immediate luck. Just a minute after surrendering a goal, Ryan McLeod stole the puck at the blue line and came in on Sklenar all alone. Sklenar was quicker, though, making a tremendous glove save to keep the game close. It was a big save for the Slovakian netminder, who was arguably the best player of the game for Slovakia.

To the surprise of about everyone, the game was tied heading into the final minute of play. After Slovakia began to put on the pressure, Ivam's point shot would get tipped by Krivosik once again, this time in an extremely important manner as Slovakia forced overtime in a game that most people expected to be one-sided.

Both teams had good chances early in the overtime. First, at the one minute mark, Patrik Hrehorcak's high shot was caught and held by Scott. Then, two minutes later, Canada's player of the game, Joseph Veleno, got stopped on a one-timer. But it would be a goal with 29-seconds remaining in the overtime that resulted in the victory. It would be Comtois once again, stealing the puck down low around the net before sending off a wrist shot towards the net, beating Sklenar for the game-winner.

Canada will look to grab their second win of the tournament when they meet with Russia at 5:30 AM ET on Tuesday. Slovakia will play Sweden later in the day, a 9:00 AM ET game start.

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