Canada fights back to 5-3 win against Slovakia

Canada’s junior men’s hockey team has battled back from a 3-1 challenge to win 5-3 against a strong Team Slovakia. The come-back means Canada gets a ticket to face a strong United States team tomorrow on the trail the tournament championship in Sweden. Centre Nic Petan scored the winner on a power play. He then excelled by firing the winning shot into an empty Slovak net.  Slovakia jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the second period on two goals from David Griger and another from Martin Reway. Canada matched those with goals from Curtis Lazar, Anthony Mantha, Jonathan Drouin and Petan. “I wanted to show I could play great hockey over here and that’s what I’m doing now” – Forward Anthony Mantha Zachary Fucale made his first start of the tournament for the Canadians, stopping 19 of 22 shots. Coach Brent Sutter indicated Fucale will be in net for the team’s next game against the United States. If Canada beats the United States on Tuesday in the final game of the preliminary round in regulation, it will win its pool. Curtis Lazar and Mantha also scored for Canada before a crowd of 2,558. Charles Hudon suffered what appeared to be a shoulder injury early in the third period, but returned to the bench after missing a few shifts, and Sutter said later the forward was fine.