Canada opened its IIHF Women’s U18 World Championship campaign with a 6-2 victory – but only after struggling to solve some inspired Slovak goaltending.

Through 40 minutes, Slovakia held its powerhouse opponent 2-2 and there were signs towards the end of the second stanza that Vicky Sunohara’s team was getting frustrated with a stellar performance from Mariana Sumegova.

But that all changed at the start of the third. It took a moment of individual brilliance to snap the 2-2 tie. With the teams playing four-on-four, Danica Maynard took possession in centre ice and saw a route to goal. Slaloming between two opponents, she got in close with Sumegova and went five-hole to restore Canada’s lead after 43 minutes.
 
This time, at last, the Canadians could consolidate a lead. Moments later, Lexie Bertelsen sprinted down the left wing and, with the Slovak defence at full stretch, slung an inviting cross-ice feed onto Chloe Primerano’s stick for 4-2. When Stryker Zablocki added a fifth on 46:41, Canada had three goals in less than four minutes, taking the game decisively away from Slovakia’s battlers. Rookie defender Kate Viel potted a sixth on the power play.

"It wasn't our best game but I'm happy with the win and we can build on what we did in that third period," Primerano said.

"I think we're learning to play a full 60 minutes. I don't think we did that today so we have to work on that through the whole tournament."

Earlier, a combination of goaltending heroics from Sumegova – 43 saves in the first two periods – and the attacking threat of Nela Lopusanova’s line gave Canada some headaches. The game followed a similar pattern to Slovakia's opener against the USA last year: tight for two periods, but tiring in the third.

The first big chance went to the underdog. Ema Tothova’s pass out of her zone released Lopusanova in centre ice. The Slovaks’ leading forward evaded a stumbling defender and got a dangerous shot off, but Marilou Grenier came up with a big pad save at the start of her World U18 Championship debut.

Having survived that early scare, Canada looked to move through the gears. By the time Hayley McDonald opened the scoring on 7:05, Sumegova had already made eight saves. She was beaten when Maxine Cimoroni’s initial shot came loose to the side of the net, Sara Manness returned the puck to the crease and McDonald was on hand to stuff it over the line.

Once in front, Canada continued to press, but Lopusanova’s line was always dangerous. When the future University of Wisconsin prospect was fouled by Danica Maynard in the 14th minute, Slovakia got the first power play of the game. Within a minute, the extra skater helped deliver a tying goal: Tothova came off the left-hand boards, advanced to the centre of the zone and wired a wrister past Grenier’s blocker and in off the post.

"My line gets the puck to me so well, and I could have a few shots at goal," Lopusanova said. "We wanted to surprise everyone and I think we did that. We listend to what our coach said, and we can build on this."

Canada was stung and regained the lead a minute later. Sumegova was left exposed by her defence as a dot-to-dot pass from Manness found Cimoroni all alone to rifle home her team’s second of the night. 

The favourite had more choppy water to navigate at the start of the second when Slovakia got another power play. Thhe PK did its job, but it wasn’t long before the Slovaks were level.

It started with Lopusanova harrying a defender. A stumble allowed Nikola Komlos to steal the puck and her return pass set up a close-range, top-shelf finish for Lopusanova. 

Not only had Slovakia tied the game, it also managed to slow the fearsome Canadian offence. Through 13 minutes of the second period, Canada had just eight shots at Sumegova. Frustrations grew, and although the final minutes of the session saw far more action around the Slovak net, the familiar sang-froid was missing. A three-on-one rush was a case in point: Primerano’s pass for Zablocki would normally drop neatly on the stick; this time it forced Zablocki to stretch and the return feed to the slot was too wild to control.

Meanwhile, Sumegova kept making saves. The 16-year-old had a rough time in her one game at last year’s championship, but has since moved to play for Bourget College in Canada. Experience of handling Canadian shooters proved invaluable here as she finished the second period strongly. At the other end, Slovakia’s forwards conjured two goals from just five shots at Grenier.

But that third-period blitz steered the game firmly in Canada’s favour. The final result was as expected, but the journey to victory did not entirely follow the anticipated script.

"It was great to face some adversity in our first game," concluded coach Sunohara. "They have a few skilled players and if you make a mistake they can capitalize. I think the nerves were there and at times we tried to do too much instead of keeping it simple and focussing on the details."