Canada on Tuesday squandered a five-goal lead in the third period before captain John Tavares scored 15 seconds into overtime to give the defending champions a 7-6 win over Austria at the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.
The Canadians led 6-1, but Austria produced an unprecedented five-goal final period to force overtime in a Group A game in Prague. Peter Schneider led Austria’s surge in the third with two goals and an assist.
Benjamin Baumgartner completed a two-on-one rush, before Schneider scored from a tight angle to make it 6-3. Dominic Zwerger’s slap shot made it a two-goal game.
Photo: AP
Schneider added his second with four minutes, four seconds remaining and Marco Rossi’s backhander tied it at 6-6 with 49 seconds left.
In overtime, Tavares carried the puck into the zone and snapped a wrist shot past goaltender David Madlener to clinch Canada’s third straight victory.
“It’s a good lesson,” Tavares said. “This definitely grabs our attention, just how we have to stay with our game, continue to build our identity and how you have to manage the swings of emotion.”
Madlener made 42 saves for Austria, who earned their first point in the tournament. Canada’s Jordan Binnington stopped 15 shots.
In the Group B game in Ostrava, the Czech Republic, Latvia beat Kazakhstan 2-0 for their third straight victory. Roberts Bukarts and Haralds Egle scored for last year’s bronze medalists and Kristers Gudlevskis made 22 saves to ensure three points.
In Group A in Prague, Norway got their first win at the tournament by beating Denmark 2-0. Michael Brandsegg-Nygard scored, Eirik Salsten added the second into an empty net and goalie Henrik Haukeland stopped 24 shots.
In Group B, Justin Addamo’s two goals helped France top Poland 4-2 for their first victory.
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