OSTRAVA, Czechia – Tyler McGregor scored a goal and added two assists Wednesday to lead Canada to a 4-1 semifinal victory over Czechia and a berth in the championship final at the International Para Hockey Cup.
With the victory, the Canadians get a rematch against the USA which beat them in the preliminary round on Tuesday.
“This is an excited room,’’ said Canada’s James Dunn, who contributed two assists. ‘’We have a lot of guys playing in their first tournament, so for them to play for gold is a great experience and a real honour. For us now, we have to remain focused and not stray away from our game.”
Canada’s other scorers were Dominic Cozzolino with his third and fourth goals of the tournament and Corbyn Smith.
Canada led 2-0 after the first period and 3-1 after two. They outshot the Czechs 21-7. Jean-François Huneault was the Canadian netminder.
“When we talked before the game, it was nothing about Czechia, it was all about us and what we needed to do,” said Smith about the discussion in the Canadian dressing room before the game. “We wanted to play hard, be physical and force them to play our game. I think we did a good job of getting back to our game and it worked out well tonight.”
Canada’s head coach Russ Herrington wants his troops to improve on its previous showing against the Americans in the final.
“You have to almost play a perfect game versus the Americans,’’ he said. ‘’You can’t make too many turnovers at either blueline, we can’t be handing them free offensive looks and power plays all night and if we get an opportunity, we have to make it count.”
Friday's final can be livestreamed HERE at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.
