(Riga) Jack Quinn scored the decisive goal in the shootout as Canada beat Slovakia 2-1 on Monday at the Ice Hockey World Championship.
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault confirmed Canada’s victory by blocking Martin Chromiak’s shot on Slovakia’s final attempt.
“It’s a bit stressful to play in the shootout, and my shootout game is usually not the best I have to offer. It’s one-on-one hockey, and you never know what’s going to happen, but I knew I had to do the job. We had a big goal (from Quinn) and I just had to make the last save,” mentioned Montembeault.
“I am happy with our victory. We played a good game today. We failed to take advantage of some opportunities. We will continue to build on this victory, but in general, we are happy with our game,” added the Bécancour goaltender.
PHOTO GINTS IVUSKANS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault confirmed Canada’s victory by blocking Martin Chromiak’s shot on Slovakia’s final attempt.
Jake Neighbors scored in regulation time for Canada, who top Group B with eight points (two wins in regulation, one in extra time) from three games.
“It was a very tight game with a lot of penalties. I think our shorthanded game was not so good at the start of the game, but it got better and better as the game went on and at the end it was really solid,” analyzed head coach André Tourigny.
“We need to make some adjustments to our massive offense because we forced a few plays today, but I thought our five-on-five game was solid. Apart from a few missed games, we didn’t give Slovakia much leeway, and I liked our progress. »
Peter Cehlarik scored for Slovakia, who sit fourth in the group with four points (one win, one loss and one loss in extra time).
Montembeault blocked 23 pucks for Canada in regulation and overtime. At the other end, Samuel Hlavaj stopped 42 shots.
“(Montembeault) has been really good so far. He played well in our preseason game and showed good composure in his two tournament games. He is very confident and he has our full confidence,” noted Tourigny.
At the same time, in a Group A match in Tampere, the United States also had to work hard to score a 3-2 victory over Germany.
Matt Coronatto, Sean Farrell and Ronnie Attard scored for the American squad, which won each of its first three games in regulation.
Shorthanded Samuel Soramies and Justin Schultz scored for Germany.
Later on Monday, Sweden defeated Finland 2-1 in a Group A shootout. In a Group B match, Latvia beat Czechia 4-3 thanks to a goal from Oskars Batna 4:16 of the extra period.