Canada Smokes Czech’s in WJC Pre-Tournament Game

22 Dec 2016Steven Ellis»

After beating the Czech Republic 8-0 in a prior pre-tournament game, Canada was able to take yet another win with a 5-0 victory at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario on Wednesday.

It didn't even take two minutes for Canada to score the first goal of the game. Blake Speers got the game going after rushing into the zone and sending it out to Anthony Cirelli, who tipped in the one-timer in front of the net to have the fourth line put Canada up 1-0 early in the game.

Canada would lead 2-0 with 9:01 left in the first period. Just nine seconds into the power-play, Tyson Jost was in a perfect spot to receive a no-look pass from Nicholas Roy, one- timing it past 2018 NHL Draft prospect Jakub Skarek and in for the 2-0 lead.

Canada's dominant play, that saw them defeat Finland 5-0 two nights ago, continued with under five minutes to go. Dylan Strome, Canada's captain this year, put a perfectly placed shot below Skarek's blocker and in after the Czech netminder reacted just a second too slow on the play to give Canada the 3-0 lead.

With nine goals in four periods in RBC Road to the World Juniors pre-tournament action, Canada had done a great job of dominating in the warmup stages. That didn't stop in the second, as Jost was unable to set up Julien Gauthier in the high slot, who converted the play into a 4-0 advantage for the home team. It was the first goal against Daniel Vladar, who took over the net after a tough start for Skarek in the first.

With 5:51 left in the game, the Canadians were able to take the 5-0 lead. Cirelli would get his second goal of the game after Speers did a great job of chasing down a Czech defender at centre ice. Speers then gave it to Cirelli, who rushed down the middle and beat Vladar on the breakaway backhand, putting Canada far ahead in the lead late in the game. It was the final goal of the game, keeping Canada on the right track thanks to a big 5-0 victory on Wednesday.

Canada has one more pre-tournament game left to play, a 7:00 PM ET start against Switzerland this Friday at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The Czech's will play the Americans at the same time, taking to battle in Kingston before traveling to Montreal for the start of the tournament.

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