Canada returns to gold medal game

Patience paid off for Canada on the powerplay.

After four consecutive penalty kills by Slovakia earlier in the game, Canada scored on three-straight powerplays in the third period to turn a 1-0 lead into a commanding 4-0 victory on Friday in the first semifinal at the 2025 IIHF World Men’s Under-18 Championship in Frisco, Texas.

Jack Ivankovic stopped all 24 shots he faced for the shutout and his fifth win.

Canada entered the game with the top powerplay in the tournament but Slovakia created some headaches in the first two periods on Canada’s man advantages. The Slovaks blocked shots, got sticks in passing lanes and were propped up well by the excellent play of goaltender Michal Pradel, who stopped 35 of 39 shots in the game.

But one minute 34 seconds into the third, Canada won a faceoff and defenceman Keaton Verhoeff got the puck over to Cole Reschny, who moved it down low to Braeden Cootes. Reschny opened up, received a return pass from Cootes and one-timed the puck high over the glove of Pradel. Verhoeff’s assist was the 22^nd point by a Canadian defenceman this event.

Just under five minutes later, Canada struck on the powerplay again. Ben Kindell fired a slap shot to the right of Pradel, who stopped the initial shot. But the rebound right to a wide-open Jack Nesbitt, who ripped home his first of the tournament.

At the 18-minute mark, Ryan Roobroeck scored Canada’s third powerplay goal, with Verhoeff and Xavier Villeneuve adding two more assists from the back end to make it 24 points by Canadian defenders.

The win by Canada improves its overall U18 record against Slovakia to 14-0-0, which includes two overtime wins. Canada defeated Slovakia 9-2 during preliminary-round action at this year’s event.

Friday’s semifinal saw the teams battle through a scoreless first period before Canada got the icebreaker early in the second.

Villeneuve showed why he has been one of the players to watch at this tournament as he collected the puck from an Ethan Czata faceoff win and quickly threw the puck on goal. The puck bounced off a Slovakian defender and into the net to give Canada a 1-0 lead just under two minutes into the middle frame. It was Canada’s 10^th goal by a defenceman during this tournament.

Slovakia had a good chance to respond as Andreas Straka had a shorthanded breakaway with about five minutes left but Ivankovic made the save.

Slovakia may look back at the first 10 minutes of the game as a missed opportunity. At 4:23, Canadian…