Dave Cameron and his players once again found themselves in an uncomfortable position.
Coming off a stunning, embarrassing loss to Latvia some 48 hours earlier at the world junior hockey championship, Canada led another of the sport’s lesser lights by a single goal late in regulation Sunday.
The tournament hosts would get the job done in the end. It wasn’t pretty.
Oliver Bonk, Caden Price and Mathieu Cataford, into the empty net, scored as the wobbly Canadians picked up an unconvincing 3-0 victory over Germany.
“We’re snake-bitten,” Cameron, at his third world juniors as the country’s head coach, said of the roster’s toothless attack. “We’re getting chances. That’s all you can do … it’ll break.”
Carter George made 25 saves to register the goaltender’s second straight shutout for Canada, which was coming off Friday’s 3-2 upset loss to Latvia in a shootout.
“I just want to go out there and do my part to get this team a win,” said George, who took a shot at the empty net that dribbled wide. “We all pitch into the system.”
Nico Pertuch stopped 33 shots for Germany, which dropped its Group A opener at the men’s under-20 tournament 10-4 to the United States before falling 3-1 to Finland.
Canada, which entered with a 17-0 record all-time and a combined 107-26 score against Germany at the world juniors, went more than 120 minutes against a pair of hockey minnows without scoring a goal at 5-on-5.
“It gets a little tense there when it was 1-0 with five minutes left,” said defenceman Tanner Molendyk. “But I thought we handled it well.”
“A little tighter than maybe we would have expected,” added fellow blueliner Sam Dickinson.
Despite another sub-par performance, the victory sets up a mouth-watering New Year’s Eve matchup against the U.S. for first place in the pool after the Americans fell 4-3 to the Finns in overtime earlier Sunday.
Canada suffered one of the worst defeats in the program’s history when Latvia — outscored 41-4 in four previous meetings at the event — shocked the hockey world.
And while the plucky Europeans were full marks for their victory, the Canadians were largely disjointed and surrendered the middle of the ice for long stretches despite firing 57 shots on goal.
There was more of the same Sunday through the two periods.
“It’s a quick turnaround, maybe, from (the Latvia loss),” said Canadian forward Berkly Catton. “That hurt, but we’ve got to be ready.”
Cameron made a couple of changes to his lineup — one out of necessity and another for tactical reasons.
With star defenceman Matthew Schaefer, who could go No. 1 at the 2025 NHL draft, out of the world juniors after suffering an upper-body injury Friday, Vancouver Canucks prospect Sawyer Mynio drew in. Cameron also sat forward Porter Martone for Carson Rehkopf.
Canada opened the scoring on the power play, which also had a new look after going 1-for-7 through two games, when Bonk scored from his normal bumper position in the slot at 9:40 of the first period.
“Great feeling,” said the Ottawa native and son of former NHLer Radek Bonk. “Fans have been awesome.”
Dickinson then chimed a one-timer off the post on another man advantage before George, who was in goal for Canada’s 4-0 opener against Finland, made a couple of stops on the penalty kill inside a red-clad Canadian Tire Centre.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Catton said of the netminder. “He held us in that game when we weren’t playing great. He’s been the heart and soul of our team.”
Petruch made a big save off Tanner Howe in the second before also denying Calum Ritchie from the slot on a power play, but the Canadians again looked out of sorts against a decidedly inferior opponent on paper.
“You need different clubs in your bag to win this tournament,” Cameron said. “Right now our defence and our goaltending are leading the pack. They’re the clubs we’re using the most.
“The offence in this group’s going to get going.”
Catton hit another post for Canada early in the third as a group with 11 first-round NHL draft picks finally started to flex its muscles. Molendyk then also found iron against Germany, set to meet Latvia in a crucial Monday matchup at the bottom of the Group A standings.
“It was a lot better,” Bonk said of the overall effort. “We didn’t score as much as we should have or wanted to. It happens, but the goals will come.”
Price finally broke the 5-on-5 goose egg with 4:58 left in regulation on a shot that caromed off the end boards, Pertuch and in before Cataford fired into the empty net on another nervy night for the 20-time gold medallists.
“Win a hockey game,” Catton said of the feeling on the bench. “That’s all that really matters — 1-0, 3-0, 10-0 — it’s all the same.
“We need the wins and we got it.”
Canada’s biggest rival is now on deck.
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