The Slovaks put up a decent fight from the gate but were unable to contain Bedard. The North Vancouver-raised ace used Slovakian defenders at the center point, sent a cheeky pass to McTavish and then headed to the net, where he put the Anaheim Ducks’ first-round comebacker past the glove of Latkoczy at 6:16.
McTavish explained: “He made a really nice pass to me and both of his full-backs I cut off. I could see he had a bit of speed so I knew he was going to the back door and he passed him.”
At 1:06 p.m., Cuylle, who captained the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires in 2021-22, made it 2-0 in Canada. The New York Rangers prospect scored five runs in a run created by McTavish and Ridly Greig.
Canada’s 3-0 goal at 15:57 came off a giveaway by Slovakian fullback Simon Groch, who fired the puck up the middle, only to have it intercepted by Cuylle. He fed Othmann into the right faceoff circle for a count that jumped the ropes.
From the high slot, Zellweger took the puck off the post and in with 43 seconds left in the opening stanza. The Slovakians challenged the goal, claiming it was offside, but video review said otherwise and it was 4-0.
The Canadians got an extended two-man lead due to the resulting delay-of-game penalty later minors in Sykora and Boris Zabka. It moved into the second period. Just 1:02 in, Stankoven converted a rebound past Bolo to make it 5-on-3.
Moments later, Bedard almost had another goal when he tapped one off the Slovakian goalkeeper’s right post in a hurry. However, McTavish made no mistake on a clear 2-on-0 break, flanked by Nathan Gaucer, when he rifled the puck home for a 6-0 lead at 6:25.
“We have a lot of skill, but we need to work more as a team,” Sykora said. “We didn’t play as a team today. Everyone wanted to play their own game. We can’t do that.”
Shortly after the finish, Bolo denied Othmann on a breakaway. The Slovaks finally ruined Garand’s match bid at 14:40. They rattled the Canadian net and Kaslik converted a rebound for his second goal in as many games.
McTavish answered just 36 seconds later. He crossed into the Slovakian zone, took a back pass from Othmann in the left faceoff circle, cut into the center and slotted home a backhand.
With 35 seconds left in the half, McTavish took advantage of another 2-on-0 break, slotting past Bolo to complete his hat trick.
“I saw he was open and he’s a great scorer, so I passed to him and told him to shoot,” Roy said.
At 3:44 of the third period, Othmann put McTavish right in front for his fourth goal. Roy scored at 15:07 and Ostapchuk at 19:39 to end the onslaught.
Slovakia will look for their first win of the tournament against Latvia on Friday, while Canada will battle the Czechs on Saturday. Canada has now defeated Slovakia 15 times in 16 World Junior meetings with a goal difference of 86-18.
The only point the Canadians have ever conceded to Slovakia was on a stage that no longer exists: a 0-0 draw. On December 27, 1998 in Brandon, Manitoba, goalkeeper Roberto Luongo made 36 saves for Canada, while Jan Lasak made 31 saves for Slovakia.