Canada Controls Pre-Tournament Contest Against Czech Republic

Canada has won their second World Junior pre-tournament game thanks to a 9-0 victory over the Czech Republic in London, Ontario, Canada.

The Canadians controlled most of the scoring chances earlier, leading the shot total 5-2 after 10 minutes while controlling the puck for the majority of the battle. Canada’s first goal would come at 10:38 when London Knights forward Alex Formenton sent the puck to Maxime Comtois at the side of the net, with Canada’s fourth line connecting for the first goal of the battle.

Canada would do a splendid job of making the Czechs have to move actively around the ice, scoring their second tic-tac-toe game of the battle at 16:40. Hometown hero Robert Thomas would make it 2-0 after sending the puck to Taylor Raddysh, who passed the puck back to Thomas. Thomas would bring the London fanbase to their feet after tapping in the short side goal, doubling his country’s lead.

A power play goal early in the second gave Canada an even larger lead. This time, on the power play, Jake Bean’s wrist shot was too much for Jakub Skarek to handle, beating him blocker side to give Canada the 3-0 advantage.

With most of the Czechs key players out of the lineup, Canada found themselves in clear control as the game wore on. At 17:10, Boris Katchouk would send a hard slap shot from the high slot after taking Thomas' pass and blowing it past Skarek, putting Canada up by four with a period left to play.

Thomas included his incredible night with his fourth assist of the contest. At 8:25, the Blues prospect set up Raddysh, who was sneaking in on the play undetected. Raddysh easily tapped in the goal to the right of the net, putting the game further out of reach for the Czechs. Raddysh would score another a few minutes later, once again scoring on the right side, while Jonah Gadjovich, Drake Batherson and Cal Foote would add one each to go to give Canada the eventual 8-0 victory on Wednesday night.

Canada’s final pre-tournament game before the World Juniors is a 7:00 PM ET start against Switzerland on Friday evening in Hamilton, Ontario. The Czechs will be meeting with Finland at 7:00 PM as well that night, playing their contest across the border at the Dwyer Arena Ice Complex at Niagara University. 

Photo from Anders Marshall/Euro Hockey

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