NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN Olivier Nadeau (right) of Team Canada Red goes in on the Team USA zone with defenceman Jacob Martin chasing him during an exhibition game prior to the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019 at Canalta Centre.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Canada Red and Team USA set the stage for the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge with an absolute barnburner in Thursday’s pre-tournament tilt at the Canalta Centre.
After 65 minutes and 12 goals couldn’t provide a winner, USA centre Jack Hughes scored in the fourth round of the shootout to put an end to the back-and-forth battle with a 7-6 victory for the Americans.
“I had a move in my mind before I went and I was just hoping to go. When I got the call I just wanted to put it in the back of the net,” said Hughes, who finished with three assists for the USA. “Obviously it was really exciting playing Canada for the first time. Playing against a bunch of other countries is really exciting for all of us and after a long road trip we were pretty excited to get on the ice.”
While they didn’t skate away with the victory, Canada Red assistant coach Kurtis Foster says it was a great test ahead of Saturday’s tournament opener against the Russians in Swift Current.
“When you come into a game like this I think you want to see a lot of different situations,” said Foster. “There’s a lot to learn from it. In 3-on-3 we got to see some guys and see who can play big minutes for us when we need it. In the shootout too, that’s something very important in this kind of a tournament and we’ve got to find a way to get it going.”
The Americans came out blazing, but Canada Red goaltender Jacob Goobie weathered an early storm then Kamloops Blazers winger Logan Stankoven gave Canada an early edge seven minutes into the first period.
“There are lots of things to improve on for the tournament coming up,” said Stankoven, adding it’s an honour to represent Canada and the WHL at the tournament. “There are so many kids out there that play hockey in Canada and would love to be in the spot that we’re in right now, so you have to be humble.”
Francesco Pinelli doubled up on the Canadian lead on his team’s next shot, but the USA quickly found their bearings and Sasha Pastujov put them on the board less than a minute later.
USA defenceman Ty Gallagher stepped up to tie the game on a power play a few moments later, then Dylan Duke stole away the lead with America’s third goal in less than five minutes.
“We did a good job battling back,” said Hughes. “We took some breaks in different parts of the period but I thought we played a good game.”
Canada got back to it later in the opening frame and Dovar Tinling broke through to erase the deficit after 20 minutes.
Gallagher struck again on the power play midway through the second period when he finished off a behind-the-back feed from Chaz Lucius, then Lucius tacked on two minutes later to give the USA a two-goal lead.
The Americans got a chance to further extend their lead when Jacob Holmes was nabbed for Canada Red’s fifth-of-seven penalties of the game – but Canada seized control of the momentum on a shorthanded goal from Wyatt Johnson.
Canada kept to it and Tinling struck for his second of the evening three minutes later to set up a winner-take-all third period.
Joshua Roy pushed Canada back out in front three minutes into the third, but Duke answered with his second of the night halfway through the frame to force sudden death.
“The States have a good team. Obviously they showed it, they’ve got lots of skilled guys,” said Stankoven. “There are probably a few things we’ve got to clean up, obviously the defensive zone is probably one of them but that was our first game together as a group so there are always things to build off. As the tournament goes on I believe we’ll get better, for sure.”
Both teams traded chances throughout the five-minute 3-on-3 overtime period, but Goobie and USA’s Kaidan Mbereko refused to let anything else past them before the shootout.
Canada’s Zachary Bolduc opened the shootout but was unable to get one past Mbereko, then Duke scored to give the USA an edge. Mbereko – who entered the game halfway through the second period – stopped each of the next three shooters, then Hughes snuck one behind Goobie to put the game away one round early.
“We’ve had an opportunity as a club to build an identity over the first couple of months here and we didn’t really display it tonight,” said USA head coach John Wroblewski. “It wasn’t a great game for us, we actually thought Canada outplayed us in that game and had the ice tilted on us for the majority of the night. We’re going to have to adjust our mindset and really manage the turnovers.”
Goobie settled for the loss despite making 20 saves and stopping 2-of-4 in the shootout.
Mbereko collected the win on eight saves, while Gibson Homer stopped 16 for the USA through the first half of the contest.
The World Under-17 Hockey Challenge officially kicks off Saturday at 7 p.m. with Canada White taking on Canada Black at the Canalta Centre and Canada Red facing Russia at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex in Swift Current.
