GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Evan Fitzpatrick was determined not let anything beat him in a busy second period.

The St. John's, N.L., native made 22 of his 38 saves in the second as Canada beat the Czech Republic 3-1 on Saturday night at the under-18 world championship.

Fitzpatrick kept the puck out of the net on several scrambles in the second period, including a highlight-reel toe save, to keep the Canadians ahead.

"It was outstanding," Canada's coach Shaun Clouston said of his goaltender's play. "He's a very even keel guy, very composed, very professional in his approach to the game, and it showed tonight. He was very calm under pressure."

Although Clouston was pleased with Fitzpatrick's performance in net, the Canadian coach said that he and his staff would use Sunday's off day to decide their starter for Monday night's game against Slovakia (1-1-0).

Brett Howden scored twice to pace Canada, which moved into sole possession of first place in Group B with the victory.

Howden, who plays for the Western Hockey League's Moose Jaw Warriors, opened the scoring late in the first period for the Canadians (2-0-0). David Quenneville made it 2-0 shortly after on the power play.

Howden added his second of the game in the second period. Mason Shaw chipped in with two assists.

Filip Zadina responded on the power play in the third period for the Czechs (0-1-1), who got 25 saves from Josef Korenar.

Canada converted once on three power plays. The Czech Republic was 1 for 6.

Clouston said he would like his team to be more disciplined, especially after taking back-to-back too-many-men penalties in the third period.

"We've talked about it (discipline) from Day 1 and we've talked about it every day. Just some confusion, maybe some fatigue mentally and physically for sure," said Clouston. "We just didn't communicate very well and we were very fortunate to get through that, we need to learn from it."