Center leads tournament with eight goals after OT victory over Czechia
Dylan Cozens continues to be a revelation at the 2024 IIHF World Championships in Prague, CZ, as the Buffalo Sabres center led Team Canada to a 4-3 overtime victory over the host Czechia on Tuesday and the top spot in Group A of the tournament after the preliminary round.
Cozens scored a pair of goals for the second straight game and now leads the tournament with eight goals. After a scoreless opening 40 minutes, the Whitehorse native opened the scoring on the power play, assisted by Sabres teammate Owen Power.
Canada took a 3-1 lead on goals by Dawson Mercer and Brandon Hagel, but Czechia rallied to tie the contest on goals from Ondrej Palat and Roman Cervenka. In overtime, but Cozens scored the game-winner while Canada was short-handed due to a holding penalty to Pierre-Luc Dubois.
“I’m having a lot of fun, this is some of the most fun hockey I’ve ever played,” Cozens said after the game. “There’s no quit (in us), (Czechia) ties it up, we don’t give up, we get short-handed, and we just find a way. That’s what we do as Canadians, we find a way.”
Power played over 21 minutes in the game, while Bowen Byram (who returned from a one-game suspension) was +1 in 18:44. Canada finished the preliminary round-robin unbeaten at 5-0-2, and will play Slovakia (the fourth-place club in Group B) in the quarter-final later this week.
J-J Peterka led Germany with seven shots on goal and had an assist in their final preliminary game, a 6-3 victory over France on Tuesday. Germany will play either Switzerland or Czechia in the quarters, while Sweden clinched first place in Group B and will play rival Finland later this week.
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