Canada falls in shootout but clinches first at World U18
IMATRA, Finland – Travis Konecny (Ottawa 67’s) and Mathew Barzal (Seattle Thunderbirds) scored goals, but Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to Russia in the preliminary round finale for both Tuesday at the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship.
Despite the loss, Canada clinched first place in Group A with the single point it earned for reaching overtime, and will face Switzerland, the fourth-place team from Group B in the quarter-finals on Thursday at 12:00 pm Eastern.
Travis Sanheim (Calgary Hitmen) and Jared McCann (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds) each had assists for Canada.
Mason McDonald (Charlottetown Islanders) stopped 29 shots despite the loss.
The Russians finished with a 31-25 advantage in shots on goal.
The other Quarter-Final matchups are United States (1st Group B) vs. Slovakia (4th Group A), Sweden (2nd Group A) vs. Finland (3rd Group B), and Czech Republic (2nd Group B) vs. Russia (3rd Group A).
Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team features 23 players from the Canadian Hockey League including 12 from the Western Hockey League, six from the Ontario Hockey League, and five from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.