Moose Jaw 2023: Host Canada edges Czechia to remain undefeated

The host nation Canada notched its second win of the tournament on Tuesday (30 May), edging Czechia 2-1 in a close game to wrap up Day 3 at the Moose Jaw 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championships.

Tyler McGregor scored first for Canada for the second game in a row, giving the Canadians a 1-0 lead after 15 minutes of action in the Moose Jaw Events Center.

But Czechia responded in the middle frame as Radek Zelinka capitalised on a power play opportunity early in the second period.

However, it was a second period power play for Canada that closed the game—it was a perfect passing play from McGregor to find Adam Dixon in front of the net for the game-winning goal. 

Martin Kudela made 20 saves, while Dominic Larocque had nine stops on the other end of the ice.

“We knew going into the game that [Czechia] has the ability to frustrate you,” said Canada head coach Russ Herrington. “Ultimately as a staff, we felt the third period we managed really well, and that was the best part of our game […] and that’s something we can build on moving forward.”

Next up, Canada will face rivals USA to close its preliminary-round play on Wednesday night.

“I think those are the moments we crave,” said captain Tyler McGregor of playing the United States on home ice. “I’m looking forward to being a part of that and playing in front of our home fans, and hopefully we can bring them a win.”

On the Czech side, head coach Jakub Novotny had nothing but praise for his team's performance against the hosts.

"I’m trying to calm my emotion because I’m so proud of our players, they put so much work into this game, it was the third game in three days and this still pulled this out of them. It’s amazing,” said Novotny.

Italy 1, Germany 0 (Shootout)

Italy and Germany needed a shootout to decide the first game of the day, but Christoph Depaoli and Nils Larch found a way past German netminder Simon Kunst to win their first game of the tournament.

Throughout regulation, it was a thrilling battle of the goaltenders. Kunst made eight saves by the end of the third period, but it was Italy’s Santino Stillitano who kept this a scoreless game by stopping 24 shots to send the game to overtime.

Each team recorded two shots in overtime, and with less than one minute on the clock, Depaoli has a breakaway chance to seal the game for the Italians, but Kunst made the save to send the game to a shootout.

“During the shootout, I was relaxed,” Stillitano said. “I have a lot of experience [with shootouts], so I can stay relaxed in the net to see the movement of the [players].”

Depaoli scored on the first shot of the shootout. Ingo Kuhli-Lauenstein and Felix Schrader were unsuccessful on their shootout attempts for the Germans.

Although Andrea Macri’s shot was saved by Kunst, Larch hit the back of the net for the victory.

Italy will face Norway, while Germany takes on China in the final day of the preliminary round.

USA 9, South Korea 0

Declan Farmer scored a hat-trick as the defending champions USA shut out South Korea to stay perfect in the preliminary round.

Farmer notched his first of the day only 61 seconds into the game with a shot through traffic.

Evan Nichols had two goals back-to-back, plus Travis Dodson and Josh Pauls scored to give the United States a 5-0 lead after the first period.

David Eustace continued the offence in the second period with shorthanded goal. Farmer completed his hat-trick in the middle frame, then Chris Douglas recorded the final goal of the game with just over five minutes to go before intermission.

“It’s hard to get to the top, it’s harder to stay up there. Countries are always giving their best against us,” Farmer said. 

“We’ve really focused on the defensive side of the puck the last few months here, and we’re liking what we’re seeing so far. Tomorrow night will obviously be a bigger test of that,” added Farmer referring to Wednesday's game against arch-rivals Canada.

Griffin Lamarre made six saves for the shutout. Korea’s Hyuk Jun Choi and Daehan Bong split the time in net, collectively making 23 saves.

You can follow Moose Jaw 2023 live on the World Para Ice Hockey website and World Para Ice Hockey Facebook page with geo-block restrictions in Canada and Czechia. Complete schedule and live results are available here.