Canada's gold-medal hopes crushed by Czechia for third year in a row

ST. PAUL, Minn. — For the third consecutive year, Canada’s world junior dreams have been stamped out by Czechia.

After quarterfinal losses in the previous two tournaments, Canada’s flat performance on Sunday night’s semifinal ended in a dramatic 6-4 loss to the Czechs at Grand Casino Arena in Minnesota.

Forward Tomas Poletin played the hero for Czechia, breaking a 4-4 tie with 74 seconds remaining in the third period with a controversial goal off his skate.

Czechia will play for the gold medal on Monday against Sweden, which won a nail-biting eight-round shootout in its semifinal date with Finland earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, Canada will get a rematch with Finland, whom it beat 7-4 in the preliminary round, in the bronze-medal game.

Canada survived a ragged opening period, emerging tied 1-1 despite being outplayed for long stretches at five-on-five. The Canadians looked tentative from the drop of the puck, losing puck battles and coughing up turnovers in their own zone, a pace that felt more like a pre-tournament tune-up than an elimination game.

It became clear early on that goalie Jack Ivankovic was going to have a very different night compared to the quiet starts he enjoyed against Denmark and Slovakia earlier in the tournament, as the Czechs led the shot clock 11-6 after 20 minutes.

Czechia’s speed and aggression caused persistent problems, hemming Canada in its own zone and skating circles around them by the midway point of the period.

Power play gets Canada started

Canada finally found life thanks to a power play that entered the day as the tournament’s most lethal unit at 47%. Zayne Parekh’s one-timer from the point sailed wide, but Jett Luchanko deftly tapped the puck through a defender’s skates to Michael Misa, who slid it into the slot for Tij Iginla to bury into an open net, giving Canada a 1-0 lead.

The lead didn’t last. Canada’s continued struggles at even strength caught up to them with three minutes left in the period, when Tomas Galvas’ backhand from the slot kicked off Ivankovic’s pad, giving Max Curran an easy rebound at the side of the net to tie the game.

Canada’s problems deepened early in the second period when Brady Martin failed to return after the intermission following a heavy hit he delivered on Matyas Man late in the first.

Canada struggled badly to establish any rhythm, failing to register a shot on goal in the first eight minutes while spending long stretches hemmed in its own zone.

Czechia took full advantage of the imbalance. Adam Titlbach put the Czechs ahead 2-1 just under four minutes into the frame, taking a feed from Max Psenicka in the slot and snapping a shot over the glove of Ivankovic, who had lost his stick on a net-front scramble moments earlier.

The goal capped off sustained Czech pressure, with shots coming from prime inside areas as Canada’s defenders looked disorganized and slow to react.

Hage gets two chances at a penalty shot

Canada was once again rescued by its special teams midway through the frame. After a slashing call to Petr Sikora and a subsequent delay-of-game penalty to Poletin, Canada went to a lengthy 5-on-3. Parekh fired from the top of the right circle, with the puck deflecting off Sam O’Reilly and into the net, tying the game 2-2.

Building on the momentum, Hage earned a penalty shot after being slashed on a breakaway by Psenicka. However, on the attempt, Hage was tripped by Orsulak’s aggressive stick check. Officials awarded him a rare re-shot, but Orsulak stood tall again, denying Hage on a similar deke.

Czechia made Canada pay for the missed chance moments later: with under a minute remaining in the period, Max Curran set up Adam Benak on a 2-on-1, and Benak buried a one-timer past Ivankovic to restore the Czech lead at 3-2.

Life was restored for the Canadians four minutes into the third, as Cole Reschny took a feed from Hage at the side of the Czech net and slid the puck far side around Orsulak, knotting the game once again.

But six minutes later, Vojtech Cihar wrested the lead back for the Czechs, taking the puck wide around Caleb Desnoyers to the net and chipping the puck over Ivankovic’s glove.

Ivankovic kept it a one-goal game in the minutes following, making key saves on Grade-A chances around the Canadian cage.

With Czechia pressing, a flurry of penalties to both sides ensued, largely preventing Canada from building any offensive pressure.

Martone’s equalizer short-lived

Finally at even strength with three minutes to go, captain Porter Martone collected a rebound off Harrison Brunicke’s shot from the blueline to tie the game 4-4.

The final heartbreak came for Canada with 74 seconds left in regulation, as Curran’s shot ricocheted off Poletin’s skate and past Ivankovic.

The play went under review to determine whether Poletin had kicked the puck in, but the call on the ice stood as a good goal.

Pushing for yet another equalizer, Canada’s Reschny drove the net and powered through Orsulak, getting slapped with a goaltender interference call.

Cihar iced the game with his second goal of the night into an empty net with 25.9 seconds to go.