Canada’s pain should be the Bruins’ gain.

Team Canada was upset by Czechia in quarterfinals of the World Junior Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden on Tuesday morning, 3-2, on a deflected goal with 11 seconds left in the third period, knocking Canada out. That means 19-year-old rookie Matt Poitras will be released from Team Canada sooner than expected. UMass goalie Michael Hrabel (28 saves) was the hero for the Czechs.

Coach Jim Montgomery told reporters in Columbus that he suspects Poitras will return to Boston sometime on Wednesday. The B’s, who play the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night, play on Thursday at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins but that would seem like quick of a turnaround. Saturday’s game at the Garden against the Tampa Bay Lightning is a more reasonable target date for a return.

“How soon he plays, again, that’s up for discussion because it just happened,” said Montgomery.

Poitras had two goals and two assists in five games in the tournament, which was not good enough for a lot of Canadian fans who always expect gold in international tournaments. It’s the first time Canada missed the medal round since 2019. The Canadians won the last gold the last two tournaments.

Judging by his comments to Canadian outlet Sportsnet, Poitras took the loss hard.

“Felt like I gripped my stick a bit too tight,” said Poitras. “I couldn’t find the back of the net. It sucks. I feel like I kind of let some of these guys down, let the country down.”

Where exactly Poitras plays when he returns to the Bruin lineup remains to be seen. In his absence, 23-year-old rookie Georgii Merkulov has been called up from Providence and was set to play his third NHL game on Tuesday, this time centering a fourth line with wings Jakub Lauko and Oskar Steen. Johnny Beecher is coming out of the lineup against the Blue Jackets. There will no doubt be discussions on whether Poitras and/or Merkulov will move to the wing.