BUFFALO \u2013 Liam Hickey and Adam Dixon scored 18 seconds apart in the first period as Canada defeated Czechia 3-0 on Friday afternoon to reach the final at the Para ice hockey world championships.<\/p>\n
The Canadians, the defending champions, face their archrival USA in the gold medal game set for Saturday at 4 p.m. (ET). You can watch live at USAHockeyTV.com<\/a>.\u00a0 The U.S. defeated China 6-1 in the other semi.\u00a0 The Czechs face China for bronze.<\/p>\n Tyler McGregor scored a power play goal midway through the second period to add insurance.\u00a0 Adam Kingsmill stopped all eight shots he faced as Canada hopes to repeat its performance from a year ago in Calgary. It beat the U.S. 2-1 in that final, Canada\u2019s first gold in seven years.<\/p>\n \u2018\u2019If we own the blue lines, we will own the game,\u2019\u2019 said Canada\u2019s head coach Russ Herrington about Friday\u2019s semi. \u2018\u2019We just kept building up momentum, wave after wave and line after line, all to do the same job. Credit to the leaders and the players for adopting that mindset and believing in it.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n The Czechs, third at the worlds last year, continued to test Canada physically throughout the game but it was to no avail.<\/p>\n \u2018\u2019That is our brand of hockey,\u2019\u2019 said McGregor. \u2018\u2019Right from the opening faceoff we got in on the forecheck, we were physical and that\u2019s where we created our offence from. Czechia played hard tonight. Their goalie made some big saves (he faced 25 shots) and for us to have that kind of game is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n Hickey lauded Canada\u2019s discipline.<\/p>\n \u201cWe came out flying and kept our composure all night,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u00a0\u2018\u2019When we take over games early, there isn\u2019t much that can slow us down and I think we did a great job right from the start.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n The top five teams in the tournaments also qualify for the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. Canada, USA, China and Czechia all clinched their spots after their second wins on Sunday.\u00a0 Germany added its name winning the fifth place match. The B pool worlds in September will determine the other three entries.<\/p>\n All 20 tournament games this week are available via livestream at\u00a0USAHockeyTV.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n