GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. SLOVAKIA (DEC. 21)

Canada’s National Junior Team wraps up the Moncton portion of its schedule on Wednesday night, taking on Slovakia in the second of three pre-tournament games ahead of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.

LAST GAME

Canada opened its exhibition slate on Monday night in Moncton, earning a comfortable 6-0 win over Switzerland. Shane Wright paced the offence with two goals and an assist, Connor Bedard chipped in with three helpers and Thomas Milic made 19 saves for the shutout.

The Slovaks’ last game was their preliminary-round finale at the 2022 World Juniors in Edmonton last summer, a 9-3 loss to Finland. Peter Repcik, Libor Nemec and Servac Petrovsky provided the goals for Slovakia, which finished at the bottom of Group A with just two points from five games.

LAST MEETING

The teams met Aug. 11 in Edmonton during prelim play, in what turned out to be a record-setting night for Canadian captain Mason McTavish. The Anaheim Ducks prospect became just the seventh Canadian to score four goals in a game at the World Juniors, and added two assists for only the 12th six-point effort as Canada cruised to an 11-1 victory. In all, eight players had goals and 14 of the 20 skaters recorded points. Joshua Roy finished with a goal and three assists, while Brennan Othmann had a goal and two helpers.

WHAT TO WATCH

Not that it is a big surprise, but wow … Wright and Bedard are good. The two exceptional-status talents, who previously helped Canada to a gold medal at the 2021 IIHF U18 World Championship (where they combined for 28 points in seven games), were good for six points against the Swiss. Joined by Brennan Othmann on Canada’s top line, these guys should provide for can’t-miss moments over the holidays.

There’s something to be said for experience, and the Slovaks have plenty. Of the 20 skaters who were on the ice for that loss to Canada in Edmonton just four months ago, 10 are back for another go-round at the World Juniors. And that list doesn’t include two of Slovakia’s three first-round picks from the 2022 NHL Draft – Simon Nemec (2nd to New Jersey) and Filip Mesar (26th to Montreal). This should be a fun team to watch.

A LOOK BACK

Canada has dominated the head-to-head history, winning 15 of 16 meetings (with the other ending in a tie in 1999 – the only 0-0 draw in Canadian World Juniors history).

McTavish’s six-point performance was the second ever – the Great One himself, Wayne Gretzky, had a hat trick and three assists against Czechoslovakia on Christmas Day 1977 in Montreal. Two other players have hat tricks against Slovakia since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s – Taylor Hall at the 2010 World Juniors and Nic Petan in the 2015 semifinals.

All-time record: Canada leads 15-0-1
Canada goals: 86
Slovakia goals: 17