Strong power play pushes Canada past Finland 5-1
Bratislava, Slovakia – Ryan Merkley (Guelph Storm), Joe Veleno (Saint John Sea Dogs) and Barrett Hayton (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) each had two assists as Canada got in the win column at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, defeating Finland 5-1 on Tuesday.
“I thought it was a good rebound performance by our team [following the shootout loss to Russia in the opener],” said Canada’s head coach Brent Kisio (Lethbridge Hurricanes). “We were aggressive in all three zones, and showed improvement as the game progressed. Our next game will be against Slovakia in front of their home crowd, so it’s important that we continue to maintain great habits.”
The Canadian power play went 3-for-7 as Calen Addison (Lethbridge Hurricanes), Nolan Foote (Kelowna Rockets) and Jack McBain found the back of the net on the man advantage while Benoit-Olivier Groulx (Halifax Mooseheads) and Gabriel Fortier (Baie-Comeau Drakkar) scored even strength markers.
Goaltender Olivier Rodrigue (Drummondville Voltigeurs) had his shutout bid spoiled with just 1:41 remaining in the third period as Finland’s Matias Maccelli made the score 5-1.
Canada outshot Finland 29-14 to improve to 1-1 following Monday’s shootout loss against Russia. Next action comes on Wednesday against host Slovakia at 1:00pm ET.
OTHER SCORES FROM DAY 2:
United States 2, Switzerland 1
Sweden 7, Czech Republic 3
Russia 9, Slovakia 3
Team Canada includes 21 players from the Canadian Hockey League including eight from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, seven from the Ontario Hockey League and six from the Western Hockey League.
For more information on Hockey Canada and Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team, please visit www.hockeycanada.ca, or follow along through social media at www.facebook.com/hockeycanada, www.twitter.com/hockeycanada and www.twitter.com/hc_men.
