Canada has moved on to the semifinals of the 2024 IIHF World Championship after a 6-3 quarterfinal win over Slovakia on Thursday. The victory was sealed with an empty-net goal from Nick Paul, lofting the puck from just inside the center red line, over the heads of three Slovak players and into the back of the net without hitting the ice.
“Yeah, I’ve worked on that shot a lot in practise but that was the first time it actually worked in a game,” Paul confessed afterward.
It was Paul’s third point of the game to go along with scoring the goal that gave Canada a 3-1 lead in the second period on a one-timer set up by Connor Bedard and assisting on Dylan Guenther’s 4-1 goal in the third. Paul now has six points in eight games.
“I feel like when we have a good start, we’re fast and we’re hard to play against,” said Paul. “If they’re playing from behind against us, they’re going to try to force the play against us and turn pucks over, and that’s the game we want.”
After the early 2-0 lead, the Slovaks got a lucky one back but the Canadians built on that lead. Paul explained, “I thought we were winning our battles, putting pucks to the net and winning our second chances … Putting the puck north, you know, not pulling back and letting them set up. Just continuing to forecheck and wearing them down, especially on the cycle.”
This is Paul’s second World Championship, having already won a gold medal with Canada in Riga in 2021 when he was a member of the Ottawa Senators. Since then, Paul has made the playoffs three straight years with the Tampa Bay Lightning – going to the Stanley Cup final in 2022 but going out in the first round the last two springs.
He said about going to the Worlds: “It gives you a chance to win. You don’t really want to be here, you want to be in the playoffs, but the next best option is coming here and giving yourself another chance to win. Getting that call is exciting and getting the chance to wear your country’s emblem on your chest … Any time you get a chance to wear the Canadian jersey, you gotta say yes to that.”
The Canadians are now in the semifinals but don’t know their opponent yet.
“We’ve just gotta keep it going and not get too far ahead of ourselves,” said Paul. “Whoever we play, we have to get a good start again. That’s what will give us the best chance to be successful.”