Canada Captures Gold

Piestany, Slovakia- After a disappointing performance at last year's Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament with a 4th place finish. The 1991 birth year brought Gold back for the Canadians. They defeated Russia 6-3.

Russia jumped to the 1-0 lead at the 4:38 mark of the 1st. Dmitry Orlov (It could of been Kirill Kabanov that got the goal) got the goal with Georgy Berdyukov getting the only assist. It was a powerplay tally after Matthew Duchene (Brampton Battalion, OHL, 2009) was called for roughing at the 3:51 mark.

Canada would rally with three goals before the intermission. Ryan Ellis (Windsor Spitfires, OHL, 2009) would tie it with a blast that bounced off the Russian netminder. The goal came four minutes after the Russian goal. Evander Kane (Vancouver Giants, WHL, 2009) got the lone helper. Two minutes later another defenseman gave the Canucks their first lead. Simon Despres (Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL, 2009) followed up a Taylor Hall's (Windsor Spitfires, OHL, 2010) shot and stuffed home the rebound. Ryan O Reilly (Erie Otters, OHL, 2009) got the secondary assist. With 13 seconds in the period, Hall would not be denied this time around, as he gave the Canadians the 3-1 lead heading into the intermission. Louis Leblanc (Omaha Lancers, USHL, Harvard (2009), 2009) got the primary assist and Jared Cowen (Spokane Chiefs, WHL, 2009) got the secondary helper.

There was only one goal in the second period. Carter Ashton (Lethbridge Hurricanes, WHL, 2009) expanded Canada's lead to three only 1:29 into the period. Zach Kassian (Peterborough Petes, OHL, 2009) got the only helper. Each team had three powerplay opportunities in the stanza and couldn't convert.

Brayden Schenn (Brandon Wheat Kings, WHL, 2009) would get the lead to 5-1. Carter Ashton set the play up at the 5:40 mark. Russia would get one back with a goal from Alexander Burmistrov just past the nine minute mark. Yevgeny Kuznetsov added an assist. Russia chances of coming back were put away when Casey Cizikas (Mississauga St. Michael's Majors, OHL, 2009) got a shorthanded tally. Fellow OHLer Ryan O Reilly got an assist on the play. The goal came with 8:50 remaining. Russia wouldn't go down with a fight with a goal with 3:12 remaining. Vladimír Tarasenko got the powerplay tally and Pavel Zotov and Roman Berdnikov getting the assists.

Canada outshot the Russians by a 2:1 ratio. Canada had 26 shots and Russia had 13. Nathan Lieuwen (Westside, BCHL, 2009) made 10 saves and Dmitry Shikin made 20 saves. Russia was 2 for 8 with the man advantage. Canada was 0 for 9.

That's My Take

(Nathan also is a writer for MVN.com. He's the writer for the Asylum which covers the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. He's also a regular contributor to the NHL Source also at MVN.com. He can be reached at fbbhgfan@aol.com)