Team Canada is in the final four of the 2024 World Men’s Hockey Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. On Thursday, Canada defeated Slovakia 6-3 in one of four quarterfinal matchups.
Canadian forward Nick Paul of Mississauga, Ontario led the Canadian squad with three points (two goals and one assist). The Tampa Bay Lightning product is very versatile because he can play centre and left wing effectively. in the quarterfinals, Paul not only led Canada in points, but faceoffs as well. He won a game-high 12 draws in 15 faceoff opportunities.
Paul was one of two Canadians with a multi-point game. The other was Utah right winger Dylan Guenther of Edmonton, Alberta, who had one goal and one assist for two points.
Three more Canadians scored in the quarterfinals. They were Los Angeles Kings centre Pierre-Luc Dubois of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, and Seattle Kraken left wingers Jared McCann of Stratford, Ontario, and Brandon Tanev of Toronto, Ontario.
Canada will next play Switzerland in the semifinals. Canada beat Switzerland 3-2 in Group A action on Sunday. The other semifinal has Sweden versus the host Czech Republic. In the other three quarterfinal games on Thursday, the Czech Republic blanked the United States 1-0 in Prague. Meanwhile, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Sweden beat Finland 2-1 in overtime and Switzerland beat Germany 3-1.
