Dylan Cozens scored his second goal of the game short-handed in overtime as Canada held on for a 4-3 win over host Czech Republic on Tuesday at the world hockey championship in Prague.
Cozens pounced on a turnover in the Canadian zone and advanced into the Czech end.
His pass intended for Colton Parayko was broken up, but he regained possession of the puck and poked a backhand past sprawling Czech goaltender Lukas Dostal.
Cozens’s goals gave him eight in seven games as Canada finished the preliminary round in top spot in Group A with 19 points on five regulation wins and two overtime victories.
The Czech Republic had a chance to take over top spot in the group but ended with 16 points. Switzerland, which played Finland later Tuesday, was at 14 points and had the chance to finish second with a regulation win.
Dawson Mercer and Brandon Hagel had Canada’s other goals, while Jordan Binnington made 19 saves.
Dominik Kubalik, Ondrej Palat and Roman Cervenka scored for Czechia, which got 22 saves from Dostal.
WATCH | Cozens continues strong play with pair of goals against Czechs:
Dylan Cozens’ second goal of the game, while shorthanded in overtime, gave Canada a 4-3 win over the hosts from Czech Republic at the IIHF world championship in Prague.
Power-play goal early in 3rd period
Cervenka scored with one minute 49 seconds remaining as Canada and Czechia combined for five goals over the last 11 minutes of regulation.
Cozens opened the scoring on a power play just over a minute into the final period.
Kubalik tied it at 9:11 of the third on a power play, then Canada appeared to take control as goals from Mercer and Hagel put the defending champions up 3-1 with four minutes 18 seconds left to play.
But with Mercer in the penalty box for tripping, the hosts got a goal back when Palat scored with Dostal on the bench for an extra attacker.
Cervenka sent the game to overtime when he scored with an extra attacker less than two minutes later.
Boston star David Pastrnak was making his tournament debut with the hosts after the Bruins were eliminated by Florida in the second round of the NHL playoffs. He was held off the scoresheet.
WATCH: Canada stays perfect with Sunday win over Switzerland:
Nick Paul’s winner lifts Canada to a 3-2 win over Switzerland and earns their sixth straight win at the men’s world hockey championship.
Britain tops Austria for 1st win
Britain rallied past Austria 4-2 for its first win at the ice hockey world championship.
The victory came after six straight losses for Britain, which finished bottom in Group A with three points and had been already relegated after one year in the top division.
Austria needed to win the game in regulation to retain a chance of qualifying for the playoff round for the first time since 1994. Finland got a playoff spot instead with a game to play against Switzerland later Tuesday.
Germany completed Group B with a 6-3 win over France to move to the second place with 15 points, two more than the United States. The US had already advanced to the next round.
Also Tuesday, Latvia has to beat the United States in regulation to have a chance to make the playoff round in Group B, where leader Sweden also meets Slovakia.