The Montreal Canadiens will have one representative at the semifinals of the 2024 IIHF World Championship.
Following a day off, the 2024 IIHF World Championship resumed on Thursday with four quarterfinal matches. Four Montreal Canadiens representatives participated in the contests, while Vinzenz Rohrer's tournament ended with Austria's elimination on Tuesday.
The first contest featured a head-to-head matchup between Canadiens teammates Juraj Slafkovsky and Kaiden Guhle representing their respective countries. Canada held a two-goal lead through 40 minutes when they took control with two goals in 20 seconds in the third period, on their way to 6-3 win versus Slovakia.
In 15:58, Guhle took two shots on goal and minus-1 rating. Slafkovsky obtained one assist, two shots on goal, minus-1 rating, two penalty minutes in 20:04 ice time. The 20-year-old's tournament ends with eight assists in as many games.
The second match of the day at Prague Arena highlighted the United States with Cole Caufield taking on Czechia. Caufield and his teammates were blanked by their opponents in 1-0 loss.
The Canadiens forward took three shots on goal in 20:39 of action and returning home with eight points in eight games and plus-5 rating.
Finland and Sweden needed overtime to break 1-1 tie and the Swedes capitalized on a power play to score and eliminate their opponents. Oliver Kapanen was held off the scoresheet, no shots on goal, plus-1 rating, and won 46.7 percent faceoffs. The 20-year-old concluded the competition with six goals and plus-1 rating in eight games.
In the fourth quarterfinal, Switzerland defeated Germany 3-1 at Ostrava arena.
The tournament resumes on Saturday with two semifinal matches at Prague arena. At 8:20 am. Eastern time, Czechia faces Sweden and 12:20 pm. Eastern, Canada with the Canadiens only representative Kaiden Guhle take on Sweden.
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