Canada West finished their World Junior A Challenge on a high note with a 5-3 victory over team Switzerland on Friday, Dec. 16, claiming fifth place overall in the World Junior A Challenge.
Canada West finished their World Junior A Challenge on a high note with a 5-3 victory over team Switzerland on Friday, Dec. 16, claiming fifth place overall in the World Junior A Challenge.
Team Canada West didn't get off on the right foot, with the Swiss scoring the first goal of the game.
After that goal Canada West got their game back on track. At the 5:33 mark, Jeff Stewart tied the game, followed by a second goal at 12:47 by Jordan Kawaguchi giving Canada West the lead. A mere 29 seconds later Carter Turnbull made the score 3-1 for Canada West as they headed into the second period.
The Swiss would strike back at 3:53 in the second, with a goal by Justin Sigrist, ending the period on a high note for the Swiss as they closed in on Canada's lead.
Thirteen seconds into the third period, Cale Makar tied a record for points by a defenceman in this tournament. His power play goal gave his team a 4-2 lead and his eighth point of the tournament.
"The team that they put together is pretty exceptional. It was tough not to do that, but at the same time, you look back at this tournament and it was a great experience," said Makar on tying the record.
Assistant coach for Canada West and head coach for the Bonnyville Jr. A Pontiacs added, "He's unbelievable, we play against him in our league. Here is a guy who we knew was good, but he elevates his play to the competition he is playing. There was a first round NHL draft pick."
The next goal was scored by Joesph Nardi, who received a pass from Kawaguchi. He roofed a nice backhand goal past Swiss goaltender Beat Trudel, scoring Canada West's fifth goal of the night.
"I got a great feed from Kawaguchi and I just went with the backhand there and found that little space up high and it felt good," said Nardi.
The Swiss would score one more but it was not enough to claim the win against Canada West, or fifth place in the tournament.
In the evening game, team Russia would dominate from start to finish to claim the bronze medal.
Russia scored three goals in the first period. Two of those came from potential 2018 NHL first overall draft pick Andrei Svechnikov, along with another from Denis Mikhnin. The Czech Republic also scored in the first.
Russia sored three more in the second. Ivan Klepko and Alexey Ipanov. The third goal came from Svechnikov, completing a hat trick. Another Czech Republic goal made the score 6-2 after 40 minutes of game play.
In the third, the Czech Republic would try to mount a comeback by scoring a couple goals, but it wouldn't be enough. Russia would claim the bronze with a final score of 7-4.
Canada East and the USA will close out the tournament Saturday night as they go head to head in the gold medal game.
