Kaiden Guhle Earns Player of the Game In Canada's Near-Disaster At Men's World Championship

Team Austria nearly pulled off the biggest comeback in World Championship history on Tuesday afternoon. Canada entered the third period, but Austria scored five unanswered goals to send the game to overtime. John Tavares helped Canada avoid the most embarrassing loss ever with the overtime winner. Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle was given Player of the Game for his efforts. Canada is 3-0 to start the tournament, but will the near-loss serve as a wake-up call?

Both teams will get Wednesday off before returning to the ice on Thursday. Canada's next game will be against Norway, while Vinzenz Rohrer and Austria will take on Oliver Kapanen and Finland.

Canada Wins In Overtime

The game started well for Kaiden Guhle and Team Canada. Guhle had an assist on the opening goal and scored the second off a beautiful pass from Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares.

Team Canada thought they had the game well in hand, entering the third period with a 6-1 lead. However, Austria scored five goals in the third period to even the game at 6-6 going into overtime.

Guhle will likely forget his statistical performance, as he wears the burden of going to overtime thanks to his ugly giveaway in the final minute on the tying goal. Guhle attempted to make a play out of the zone, but the puck exploded off his stick, right into the waiting hands of Marco Rossi, who deked out Jordan Binnington and evened the game. The Austrian team isn't high on talent, but Rossi is one of the lone players who will make no mistake on this opportunity.

Team Canada supporters began to have nightmares of previous World Championship results, as they were upset by Norway in last year's tournament, and by Denmark, two years ago. However, John Tavares scored the winner 15 seconds into overtime to send the Canadian fans home happy.

The Canadians didn't look thrilled to have to go to overtime in this game, but Montreal fans can take solace in the success of their defenseman. Guhle was given Player of the Game honors for his goal and assist performance.

The Other Canadien

Vinzenz Rohrer didn't get much ice time in this game, playing fourth-line right wing. It was unfortunate for Rohrer, as it would've been nice to see him perform against some of the world's best players. However, his coach's lack of trust in the youngster may be a sign that he is still a few years away from making an impact in North America.