PIESTANY, Slovakia - Team captain Sam Reinhart scored with 53 seconds left as undefeated Canada defeated co-host Slovakia 3-2 Wednesday at the under-18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial hockey tournament.
Canada had already clinched first place in its group and a place in Friday's semifinals entering the game, but looked in danger of losing for the first time at the tournament when Slovakia took a 2-0 lead.
Ryan Kujawinski finally got Canada on the board with a goal at 16:15 of the third period, and the offence took over from there.
Josh Morrissey tied the game at 17:07 of the third, setting the stage for Reinhart's winner.
Kristian Horvat and Martin Ambroz scored for Slovakia.
Eric Comrie made 21 saves for Canada, while Maros Mikolas stopped 33 shots for Slovakia.
Canada ended the preliminary round with a 3-0 record. The Canadians have dominated this event, having won it the last four years and 16 times overall since 1991.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version had Slovakia taking a 3-0 lead.
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