Canada vs. Slovakia result: Birthday boy Devon Levi, Canadians pass first test of tournament

Jackie Spiegel

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Canada vs. Slovakia result: Birthday boy Devon Levi, Canadians pass first test of tournament image

Canada's Boxing Day 16-2 drubbing of Germany was pretty much expected. The question entering Sunday's meeting with Slovakia was: How would the Canadians follow it up against a more formidable foe?

The answer: A tight 3-1 win that maybe wasn't the Canadians' best effort but was backstopped by Devon Levi, who had another strong game in net to start the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. 

Levi was a calming presence between the pipes as he turned aside 17 of 18 shots on his 19th birthday. He made quality saves, some through traffic, and robbed 16-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky, who was left alone in the slot off a turnover in the Canadian zone late in the second. Slovakia turned up the pressure in the third with 10 shots, compared to just eight through the first two periods. Levi's one blemish was a snipe by Kings prospect Martin Chromiak late in the third.

"Woke up, ate breakfast and focused on the game," said Levi when asked about how his birthday started. "Didn't really go on my phone much; I was focused on the game and I'm going to answer my birthday messages later. But the task a hand was to win the game and it was a great birthday gift for sure. Just being here is all I could ask for but the win is definitely the cherry on top."

Before Canada even hit the ice for Game 2 of its WJC, it lost two players: Braden Schneider and Dylan Holloway were ruled unavailable. Holloway is listed as day to day with an upper-body injury, while Schneider was handed a one-game suspension for a hit to the head of Germany's Jan-Luca Schumacher. Schneider will be available for Game 3. 

Jordan Spence, the odd man out for the Boxing Day win, slotted in after Schneider's suspension and then got Canada on the board less than five minutes into the game (on his first shift, in fact) when he pounced on a rebound in the slot. In the third period, as the Slovaks started to pick things up, Philip Tomasino flipped the puck over Samuel Hlavaj on a breakaway for an insurance goal. Jack Quinn added an empty-netter to seal the win.

"It's been amazing during this tournament. Obviously it was unfortunate for Schneids to get suspended but . . . this afternoon I got the call that I was going to be in the lineup," Spence said. "They put me on and there was a loose puck there and I scored. So, obviously there's a lot of emotions going on, just being scratched from last game and coming back the next day and scoring. So, it's amazing and I'm just more happy about us winning the game against Slovakia."

While the Canadians scored easily Saturday against Germany, they faced a much stiffer test in Slovakia. Hlavaj was strong in net as he stopped 20 of 22 shots, and his teammates blocked another 15. Canada also struggled at times to get its offense going — especially on the power play, where it had trouble entering the zone and setting up. When it did do those things, it then had trouble making smart plays. 

"Yeah, of course, it's Canada so we expect the worst but we played a really good game," said Hlavaj when asked if he expected to be a bit busier than he was in the 60-minute affair.

As for Canada's head coach Andre Tourigny, he looked at the game as a teaching moment overall as the team battled through frustrations.

"I think we grew as a group tonight. We learned to go through adversity. We learned to keep our composure," he said postgame. "We went away a little bit at certain moment in the game, at some point in the second period we were forcing it. . . . I think we learned to really be patient with the outcome and not panicking and not trying to force it. And we were playing really well, in my opinion, the first few periods especially defensively in terms of time possession. But at some point . . . we start to force it a little bit, so I think as a team we learned there."

Canada will now have a day off before facing Switzerland on Tuesday. 

(All times Eastern)

Canada vs. Slovakia score, highlights from 2021 World Juniors preliminary game

Final score: Canada 3, Slovakia 1

Final shots on net: Canada 23, Slovakia 18

Third period: Canada 3, Slovakia 1

8:17 p.m. — GOAL. Jack Quinn capitalizes on the misplayed puck at the blue line and scores an empty-net goal. Canada leads 3-1.

8:15 p.m. — GOAL. Not long after the penalty ends, and with an extra attacker, Martin Chromiak skates into the left circle and rips it over the glove of Levi. Canada leads 2-1.

8:12 p.m. — Dawson Mercer gets called for hooking with just over three minutes left in the game.

8:10 p.m. — GOAL. Canada gets a must-needed insurance goal. Dylan Cozens with the poke-check and then feeds a stretch pass to a streaking Philip Tomasino. The Predators prospect skates in, cuts to the middle and after getting bumped by a defenseman coming back goes top shelf. Canada leads 2-0.

8:08 p.m. — Levi coming up big on the penalty kill and in the seconds following the power play. Great stuff from the Northeastern netminder.

8:06 p.m. — Under seven minutes left in the game and Peyton Krebs called for holding (FYI — Tourigny did not agree with the call). 

8:04 p.m. — Connor McMichael with another good shot on net and Samuel Hlavaj with another good stop.

7:59 p.m. — At the other end Levi makes another quality stop as he fights through the traffic to see the puck and get into position.

7:59 p.m. — Canadians swarming the net but can't bury the puck. That top line of Perfetti, McMichael and Krebs is putting in some work in the third period.

7:55 p.m. — Devon Levi makes a stop on a save up high to keep Slovakia off the board.

7:53 p.m. — Connor McMichael. My goodness.

7:49 p.m. — Third period is a go.

Second period: Canada 1, Slovakia 0

Some stats —  Shots total (second period): Canada 16 (7), Slovakia 8 (4).

7:29 p.m. — Great save by Devon Levi with just 10 seconds left in the period. Canada turns the puck over in their own end and Juraj Slafkovksy (who is just 16) fires the puck from the slot. Levi stones him as he reads it perfectly and comes out to make the save at the top of the crease.

7:24 p.m. — Samuel Knazko takes a high-sticking penalty as he hits Dylan Cozens in the visor. Canada back to the power play and after all is said and done they miss the net a few times and end up with one shot on net with the man advantage.

7:23 p.m. — Slovakia with a 2-on-1 and it looks like Devon Levi just got a piece of the shot from the right circle. Canada counters with some good work deep in the Slovakia zone.

7:21 p.m. — Canada can't get anything going with the man advantage — zero shots — as they struggle with zone entries, getting set-up and making poor passing choices in the offensive zone.

7:19 p.m. — Canada gets a power play as Jack Quinn is pulled down while skating into the offensive zone.

7:16 p.m. — Jakob Pelletier with a good chance short-side. The Flames prospect has been flying in this one. He's looked good with Quinton Byfield and fellow Calagry draftee Connor Zary.

7:11 p.m. — We're halfway through the second period and the shots in the frame are: 1 for Slovakia, 1 for Canada. The Canadians got their shot at 9:57.

7:03 p.m. — Martin Chromiak (LAK) with a nifty move by the corner and tries to go high, short side but shoots it over the net.

7 p.m. — Not a good start to the period as the Slovaks sustain pressure. Cole Perfetti (WPG) called for tripping. Slovakia would not score with the man advantage.

6:58 p.m. —  The second period is underway. Against Germany, Canada scored seven in the middle frame.

First period: Canada 1, Slovakia 0

Some stats — Shots: Canada 9, Slovakia 4. Blocked shots: Canada 2, Slovakia 8.

Thomas Harley (DAL) led everyone with 9:22 of ice time. Jordan Spence skated the fewest minutes (1:56) but made it count the most with the goal.

6:39 p.m. — Canada breaks out after Thomas Harley (DAL) blocks a shot but Jack Quinn (BUF) can't finish right before the buzzer on the cross-slot pass from Dylan Cozens (BUF).

6:33 p.m. — It's a much different game tonight. Against Germany it seemed as if every shot went in; Hlavaj is a much more formidable foe.

6:27 p.m. —  Slovakia's Robert Petrovicky seems like a very talkative coach on the bench. The ex-NHLer played 208 games (27 goals, 38 assists) between 1992-01 for the Whalers, Stars, Blues Lightning and Islanders. He wrapped up his career in 2016 after a number of seasons playing in Europe and his son Rayen is on the junior team.

6:18 p.m. — Almost six minutes in and Slovakia gets their first shot on net as Levi with the stop through traffic. Canada outshooting Slovakia 7-1.

6:14 p.m. — GOAL. Hlavaj makes a good stop but the rebound jumps out to defenseman Jordan Spence who buries it into the open net. The Kings prospect taking full advantage of the opportunity to get into the lineup as he scores in his first world juniors game.  Canada leads 1-0.

6:08 p.m. — Game on. I believe the referee said "Shake and bake." Fantastic.

Pregame

5:51 p.m. — Dylan Cozens gets the "C" tonight. Bowen Byram and Connor McMichael are the assistant captains.

5:42 p.m. — The birthday boy getting ready.

5:15 p.m. — Canada will only have 12 forwards for the game due to the Holloway injury. Jack Quinn moves up to take his spot on the second line while Connor Zary slots in with Quinton Byfield and fellow Flames prospect Jakob Pelletier. Dawson Mercer moves up from the extra forward spot that he started in for Game 1 to the fourth line with Ryan Suzuki and Philip Tomasino. 

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Jackie Spiegel