Slovakia Outplays Canada in First Game of Group D – 01.12.2018

What a noisy start in Arena Sparta! The Slovaks defeated Canada 12–3 in front of nearly full stands and took their first victory in the tournament.

Lukáš Řezanina scored the fastest goal of the Prague championship so far as he put Slovakia up on the board in the 39th second of the game. The strong start of the European team set the story of the match. The Slovaks kept pushing their opponent and scored several beauties to make it 5–0 after the first.

Canada made up some danger especially after quick takeaways but the Slovakian offense stayed really powerful. The Europeans, playing in blue jerseys, always found a way of getting the ball into the net. Four goals scored on quick shots or smart combinations moved Slovakia into a nine-goal lead after forty minutes.

Early in the third, Valtteri Viitakoski scored the first Canadian goal here in Prague and boosted the self-belief of his team. Canada netted two more soon and pulled down the score difference. But Slovakia kept controlling the game and went up again. More than one thousand fans, who made up a wonderful and loud atmosphere in Arena Sparta, saw a big Slovak 12–3 win over Canada.