Slovakia ousts Canada at worlds
HELSINKI -- San Jose Sharks center Michal Handzus scored the winning goal on a tip-in as Slovakia beat Canada Thursday 4-3 in the quarterfinals of the ice hockey world championships.
"Our boys didn't want to go home yet," Slovakia coach Vladimir Vujtek said.
It is the first time in history Canada has made an early exit from the tournament on three straight occasions. It lost in the quarterfinals in 2010 and 2011.
Tomas Kopecky of the Florida Panthers opened the scoring at 5:57, followed by Miroslav Satan at 9:14 to give Slovakia a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Canada rallied in the second period, with Winnipeg Jets forward Evander Kane scoring at 16:14 and a power-play goal by Carolina Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner 10 minutes later.
Vancouver Canucks winger Alex Burrows added a third goal before the end of the period, giving Canada a 3-2 lead.
Milan Bartovic tied it for Slovakia at 13:25, and four minutes later, Handzus gave his country a place in Saturday's semifinals against either Sweden or the Czech Republic.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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