Cole Reschny and Tij Iginla scored less than a minute apart, Michael Misa and Sam O’Reilly did the same and Brady Martin added a power play goal as Canada used an offensive onslaught to take a 5-0 lead over Slovakia after the first period of their quarter-final matchup at the World Juniors.
Reschny went to the net hard and was rewarded with the marker as he pounced on a loose puck and fired it past Michal Pradel in Slovakia’s net at 13:58 of the opening frame.
Iginla then doubled the Canadian advantage just :44 second later when he came off the side boards and snapped one over Pradel’s glove and into the net.
Misa added to the Canadian offence at 16:11, when he found the open space in front and hammered the puck home.
Pradel was replaced by Alan Lendak in net for Slovakia after the third Canadian goal.
O’Reilly made it four at 17:03 as he collected a loose puck and found the back of the net for Canada.
Canada went to the power play at 18:25 when Tomas Pobezal took a high sticking penalty.
Martin made the man advantage count, scoring Canada’s fifth goal from the side of the net.
Jack Ivankovic got the start in net for Canada and made six saves in the opening period.
Canada is trying to advance out of the quarter-final round for the first time in three years. They suffered defeats at the hands of Czechia at this stage in two consecutive tournaments.
The Canadians advanced to the knockout round of the 2026 World Juniors after going undefeated in the preliminary round.
