Czechia knocks off Canada in quarter-finals of World Juniors for second consecutive year | TSN

Adam Jecho scored the winner on the power play with 40 seconds remaining in the third period, pushing Czechia to a 4-3 victory over Canada at the World Juniors and into a spot in the semifinals.

It was difficult not to see the similarities to last year, when Czechia found their winning goal with 11 seconds remaining to eliminate Canada in the quarter-finals. 

For the first time in tournament history, Canada has failed to advance beyond the quarter-final round for consecutive seasons.

Czechia also got goals from Petr Sikora, Jakub Stancl and Eduard Sale. Tanner Howe, Porter Martone and Bradly Nadeau scored for Canada in the losing effort.

A costly kneeing penalty by Andrew Gibson at 17:33 opened a crucial power play for Czechia, and Jecho scored the eventual game winner with only 40 seconds remaining.

A furious attack throughout the third period finally culminated in a goal for Canada, and Nadeau poked a rebound through the five hole to tie the game up with just over four minutes remaining. 

The Canadian attack mounted 11 shots on net versus just two for Czechia in the third period before finally breaking through.

Canada appeared to find an earlier tying goal 9:39 into the third period, but the marker was waved off due to goaltender interference by Mathieu Cataford.

Canada’s head coach Dave Cameron called for a review of the play, arguing that Sale pushed Cataford into the goalie while the play was ongoing. Canada was issued a minor penalty when the call on the ice was upheld.  

The home side finally got a chance on a full man advantage with just over three minutes remaining in the second frame, when Sale was sent to the box for tripping.

The host nation was 0-for-2 on power plays before that point, but both chances were brief as they overlapped Canadian penalties.

Late in the second period, Tanner Molendyk fired a rocket from the blue line, and Martone expertly tipped the puck up and over Michael Hrabal’s shoulder in the Czech net to draw Canada back within a score, 3-2.

With just three seconds remaining in the first period, Sale was on the receiving end of a perfect pass into the backdoor, and he went top shelf to push the Czechs to a 3-1 lead.

Just over 11 minutes into the period, Cole Beaudoin lined up Sikora for a big hit but missed his target and connected with a knee-on-knee hit that left Sikora lying on the ice in pain for minutes.

Beaudoin was assessed a five-minute major penalty for kneeing, and given a game misconduct.

During the Czech power play, Canada was the first to strike though. Brayden Yager picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone for a breakaway, and though his first shot was deflected, he collected the rebound and found Howe who scored a short-handed goal to even the score.

However, Czechia was able to mount a positive on the power play, as Stancl was credited with a goal after his shot bounced into the crease and was pushed into the net by defenceman Sam Dickinson’s hand in an unfortunate misplay.

Czechia opened the scoring immediately in the opening frame, as a blown coverage after a turnover left Sikora wide open in front of the net.

Vojtech Hradec did not miss on the pass, and Sikora tipped the puck home for a Czech lead just 43 seconds into the game.

It was the first goal Canada surrendered in 5-on-5 play in the entire tournament.