Russians even ADT Canada-Russia Challenge
Pavel Chernov scored two goals, including a short-handed marker in the second period, to power the Russian Selects to a 4-3 win over the QMJHL in the second game of the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge on Wednesday in Saint John, NB.
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Chernov opened the scoring late in the first period on a set up by Anatoly Nikontsev and then converted another pass from Nikontsev early in the second period with the QMJHL on the powerplay. Chernov set up Mikhail Pashnin less than four minutes later to put the Russians ahead and then Evgeny Dadonov scored what proved to be the winning goal late in the third period.
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Maxime Sauve of the Val d’Or Foreurs tied the game early in the second period. Luke Adam of the Juniors scored midway through the period and Paul Byron of the Gatineau Olympiques cut into the Russian lead late in the third.
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“We started this game pretty much like we started the previous game,” said QMJHL coach Guy Boucher, who coaches the Drummondville Voltigeurs and will be an assistant coach with Canada’s National Junior Team. “It took us a while to get going. We finished some of our checks in the first period but not as much as we wanted.”
Jake Allen of the Montreal Juniors went the distance for the QMJHL, stopping 28 of 32 shots and Sergey Gayduchenko got the start once again for the Russians and made 30 saves in the win.
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The QMJHL had eight powerplays in the game but failed to score with the man-advantage.
“We missed our chances,” said Boucher, who guided the QMJHL to a 5-3 win in the series opener on Monday in Sydney, NS. “Their goalie played really well but we didn’t put enough traffic in front of him. That pretty much sums up the story of the game.”
Game 3 of the series goes Thursday in Guelph (7:00 p.m. Eastern on Rogers Sportsnet) and Game 4 is in St. Catharines on Monday. The series concludes in the Western Hockey League next week with games in Swift Current and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. All games are broadcast on Rogers Sportsnet.
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