It wasn't easy, but Canada got the job done on Saturday night, defeating the Czech Republic by a score of 3-0. Canada now advances to the semi-finals on Monday evening.

Canada was down to twelve forwards for the game as Alex Newhook was out of the line-up with an upper-body injury he sustained in the final round robin game on New Year's Eve against Finland.

Dylan Cozens used his speed to start the scoring for Canada, eight minutes and twenty-two seconds into the first period on a breakaway following a spectacular lob pass from Connor McMichael.

Three minutes and seventeen seconds later, defenceman Bowen Byram showed incredible patience while trying to find the right angle to fire the puck past Czech Republic goaltender Nick Malik. The puck squeeked under Malik's arm on his blocker side to give Canada the 2-0 lead.

With his assist on Byram's goal, forward Dylan Cozens now sits sixth on the all-time points list for Canada at the World Juniors with 22 (9 G, 13 A). Cozens is also the first Canadian player with 13 points in a single World Junior tournament since Ryan Nugent Hopkins in 2013.

The game remained 2-0 until late in the third period, when Connor McMichael added an empty-net goal with two minutes, and forty-nine seconds remaining.

The Czech Republic played quite well, outshooting Canada, 29-24, and were pretty solid in their own zone, but ultimately, the hockey power that is Canada came out on top.

Devon Levi made 29 saves for his second shutout of the tournament, and improving his record to 5 wins, 0 losses, a 0.64 G.A.A., and a .967 save percentage. For someone who wasn't even on Hockey Canada's radar in the summer after not being named to their summer selection camp, Levi has proved his doubters wrong, and has been a brick wall for Canada all tournament long.

Since it was the Czech Republic's last game of the tournament, their top three players were announced, as chosen by their team. The three players were: Montreal Canadiens forward prospect Jan Mysak, defenceman Radek Kucerik, and defenceman David Jiricek.

Canada will take on Russia Monday evening at 6 PM ET/4 PM MT. A win in the semis will see Canada back in the gold medal game for the second straight year, and the fourth time in the past five years. Meanwhile, the US defeated Slovakia 5-2 to advance to the semis and faces Finland in the other game Monday night.

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