McTavish's Canadian record-tying 4-goal game leads rout of Slovakia in world juniors

Four goals and a pair of assists from captain Mason McTavish powered Canada to a dominant 11-1 victory over Slovakia at the world junior hockey championship Thursday.

Brennan Othmann and Joshua Roy each scored and contributed a pair of helpers for Canada (2-0-0) while Connor Bedard, Will Cuylle, Logan Stankoven and Olen Zellweger added one of each. Zack Ostapchuk also scored.

Matej Kaslik put away the lone goal for Slovakia (0-0-2) midway through the second period.

The Canadians were coming off a decisive 5-2 win over Latvia on Wednesday while Slovakia dropped a 5-4 decision to Czechia on Tuesday.

Canada will continue round-robin play against Czechia (1-0-1) on Saturday.

WATCH l McTavish's 6-point game leads Canada in rout of Slovakia:

With just seconds left on the game clock, Ostapchuk picked up a loose puck at the side of the net and slid it around the front, in past Bolo to seal the score at 11-1.

Roy gave Canada a 10-1 lead with less than five minutes to go on the game clock.

William Dufour's shot hit Bolo's pad and Roy picked up the rebound at the top of the crease, firing it in over the netminder as he fell to the ice.

McTavish barely celebrated after giving Canada a 9-1 cushion 3:44 into the third period.

He found space between Bolo and the post for his fourth goal of the night, a strike that tied a Canadian record for most goals in a single game at the world juniors.

Other players who have accomplished the feat include Mario Lemieux (1984), Brayden Schenn (2011) and Maxime Comtois (2019).

McTavish completed his hat trick with 35 seconds left in the middle frame.

Bedard took a hit in the neutral zone and sent a puck up the ice to give his teammates a two-man breakaway. Roy put a crisp pass on McTavish's tape and