(BRNO) A mathis Preston’s hat crowned an eight-goals in the third period in Canada, which corrected Switzerland 9-1 on Tuesday during the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup.
This is the second victory of Canada in as many days to start the International Annual Men’s Hockey Tournament under 18. The unifolié had previously triumphed 5-3 at the expense of Finland.
Canada (2-0) will be measured at Czech Republic, the tournament hostess, Wednesday at Winning Group Arena in Brno.
Dimian Zhilkin and Adam Valentini both scored two goals in the victory of their team.
The Canadian goalkeeper Carter Esler made 14 stops against Switzerland, which was dominated 45-15 in terms of shots.
Ethan Belchetz and Ryan Lin have raised a goal and help each. Markus Ruck and Thomas Rousseau obtained two assistance mentions.
“We took a step forward today, and it was another good lesson for our group,” said the head coach of Canada, Mathieu Turcotte. We must persevere even when we do not score. We had a lot of shots after two periods, and we made some trio adjustments after the second. »»
Preston, who plays for the Chiefs of Spokane, in the West League, and the twins Markus and Liam Ruck, of Medicine Hat tigers, were the catalysts of Canada in the third period, said Turcotte.
The three attackers played together on the same trio during the world challenge for under 17s, “then we thought that we could give them a chance today,” added the head coach.
Led 1-0 before the third period, Canada scored four goals in 2: 21. The first in the Preston match launched the ball.
“We knew that we had to raise our game from a notch, and in the locker room after the second period, we tried to remain positive,” said Valentini.
“After our goal at the start of the third period, we continued to push each other and we did not drop anything. We want to win gold here, and all the members of our team know that the coaches will trust players who work hard and who play well to be on the ice in important moments. »»
Canada is targeting a fourth consecutive gold medal in this tournament bringing together eight countries.