Canada snags quarter-final spot at worlds

Connor McDavid HERNING, DENMARK scored in overtime as Canada edged Latvia 2-1 Monday and clinched a quarter-final berth at the world championship. McDavid batted his own rebound out of the air past Latvia goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis 46 seconds into overtime to give Canada the much-needed two points. Canada made some adjustments after a disappointing 5-1 loss to Finland Saturday. Coach Bill Peters replaced Jaden Schwartz with Brayden Schenn on the top line with McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and also juggled his defensive pairings. Anthony Beauvillier had the other Canadian goal. Darcy Kuemper was sharp through two periods in his first start since Canada’s tournament-opening 5-4 shootout loss to the U.S. Kuemper was beaten on Latvia’s 14th shot of the game, getting a piece of defenceman Kristians Rubins’ point shot with his catching glove before the puck trickled between his pads at 1:50 of the third. Canada outshot Latvia 9-2 in the third and 31-15 through regulation, but extra time was needed to decide the winner.

Forward Kyle Turris did not play Monday, but he could see action in Canada’s final round robin game Tuesday against Germany. With Monday’s win, Canada is guaranteed a top-four finish in Group B and a quarter-final berth. Canada could finish anywhere from second to fourth, depending on the result against Germany and the results of two other games: Finland versus the U.S. and Denmark versus Latvia. Norway beat South Korea 3-0 in Monday’s other Group B game. Both teams had already been eliminated from playoff contention. In Group A action in Copenhagen, Russia beat Slovakia 4-0 and the Czechs beat Austria 4-3.