Yup.

ST. PAUL, Minn. Yes, we are doing this.

Because if you watched Canada open this quarterfinal (Particularly if you watched the US implode earlier.), you probably caught yourself doing the same thing everyone else did: a slow nod, a small laugh, and a quiet, resigned… yup.

Canada stormed out to a 5-0 first-period lead and never gave Slovakia a way back, rolling to a 7-1 win to advance to the semifinals, where Canada will face Czechia on Sunday. Sweden and Finland will meet in the other semifinal.

Yup Moment No. 1: Slovakia finally gets a shot… and then Canada scores five anyway

Slovakia did not record a shot until the game was already well underway. And then, almost immediately after that finally changed, Canada flipped the switch and turned the period into a fire drill.

It started at 13:58 when Cole Reschny pounced on a loose puck after a shot from Keaton Verhoeff and buried it to make it 1-0.

44 seconds later, Tij Iginla made it 2-0.

At 16:11, Michael Misa pushed it to 3-0, and Slovakia had seen enough. Goalie Michal Pradel was pulled for Alan Lendak.

Yup. It did not matter.

At 17:03, Sam O’Reilly scored on the first stretch after the change, and at 19:47, Brady Martin finished a power play to send everyone to intermission staring at a scoreboard that already looked like a final.

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Canada 5, Slovakia 0. After one.

Yup Moment No. 2: The goalie change did not fix anything, it just changed the name on the jersey

Lendak was clearly Slovakia’s best thing going for long stretches. He faced a steady wave and battled through it, but Canada kept cashing in when the chances stacked up.

In the second period, Porter Martone made it 6-0 at 29:31, and Cole Beaudoin followed at 30:41 to make it 7-0.

Slovakia finally found some satisfaction late in the second when Jan Chovan snapped one home at 36:50 to break the shutout and make it 7-1.

That was the last goal of the night.

Yup Moment No. 3: When Canada gets a lead like that, the third period becomes a formality

The third period was scoreless, and the game stayed exactly where Canada put it early: out of reach, out of debate, and out of the building for Slovakia.

Canada’s early burst was the story, but the details underneath it tell the same tale:

Canada outshot Slovakia 16-6 in the first period and 20-7 in the second

Slovakia piled up 30 penalty minutes

Canada produced the only power-play goal of the game

Yup Moment No. 4: The bracket now looks exactly like something Canada is comfortable living in

Canada moves on to face Czechia in the semifinals on Sunday. Sweden and Finland will meet in the other semifinal.

And if you are looking for the deeper meaning here, it is not complicated.

Canada got to a single-elimination game, treated it like a job, and finished the work early.

Yup.

photo: Tim Austen/IIHF

Yup. Canada detonates early, cruises past Slovakia 7-1 to punch its ticket to the World Junior semifinals

Yup.

Yup Moment No. 1: Slovakia finally gets a shot… and then Canada scores five anyway

Yup Moment No. 2: The goalie change did not fix anything, it just changed the name on the jersey

Yup Moment No. 3: When Canada gets a lead like that, the third period becomes a formality

Yup Moment No. 4: The bracket now looks exactly like something Canada is comfortable living in

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