Team Canada Shuts Out Slovakia 2-0 For Second Straight Win
Posted December 27, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Team Canada clearly won’t be shut out in its quest for gold at the Juniors in the Czech Republic. But you can’t be blamed for wondering if everyone else will. The local boys did it again on Thursday, blanking Slovakia 2-0 in the second game of their round robin play. Steve Mason of the London Knights was sterling in goal stopping 22 shots and letting nothing get by him.
Top Canuck NHL draft pick Kyle Turris was responsible for all the offence, scoring twice to secure the win.
The victory wasn’t an easy one. The Slovaks roster includes six players from the Canadian Hockey League, including 6’4″ Tomas Marcinko of the Barrie Colts. But in the end, the opposition couldn’t contain Canada’s blazing speed and penalties made it almost impossible for them to get their own offence going.
Canada failed to score with a 5-on-3 in the first period, but tallied their first goal in the second, after Turris tipped a rebound off the stick of captain Karl Alzner into the net past a tough goalie Julius Hudacek.
He made it two in a row in the third when a pass from Guelph Storm defenceman Drew Doughty hit his stick and he slipped the puck by Hudacek to cement the victory.
Mason wasn’t tested as severely as his counterpart Jonathan Bernier the day before, but he managed some game savers of his own.
The win wasn’t only an amazing show of strength but an ongoing one – Canada hasn’t lost a match in the tournament in 20 straight games dating back to 2005, and gets a chance to extend that streak when they face Sweden on Saturday.
The Canucks are also exhibiting their surpremacy at the Spengler Cup in Switzerland where they cruised to an easy 6-2 victory over host Davos on Thursday.
Canada, which defeated Pardubice of the Czech Republic Wednesday, now leads the round robin portion of the five-team tournament with a 2-0 record.
