MACKINNON’S FOUR POINTS LEAD ATLANTIC TO FIRST WIN

by Matt Nicholson

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – Nathan MacKinnon set the tone with his body and did the damage with his stick, scoring twice and adding two assists to help Atlantic to its first win of the 2011 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, 4-3 over Finland on Friday night.

MacKinnon leveled a Finn on his first shift of the game, igniting the pro-Canadian crowd, and opened the scoring just four minutes in.

“I try to play both physical and finesse,” said MacKinnon, an underager at just 15 years old. “I find if we can be physical right away it opens up room for myself and my teammates.”

The win evened Atlantic’s record at 1-1 heading into a huge showdown with the United States on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. CT) – a loss to the Americans eliminates the easterners from semifinal contention.

It looked early in the second period as if the Finns would be the ones to pick up their first win, as goals from Kalle Torniainen, Rasmus Kulmala and Teuvo Teräväinen put them up 3-1 before the middle frame was a minute old.

But MacKinnon set up Brett Malone just over two minutes after Teräväinen’s goal, tied the game with his second near the seven-minute mark and assisted on Matthew Bursey’s goal in the final minute of the period that put Atlantic ahead for good.

Atlantic managed to stay out of the penalty box for the most part in final 40 minutes, taking only three minors, and preserve their one-goal cushion in the third period.

“Against Quebec we took to many penalties, so we just reminded ourselves what would happen if we kept taking penalties,” said Andrew Ryan, who chipped in with three assists.

The Finns, who are 0-3 and will not play for a medal, wrap up their tournament on Saturday night (7:30p.m.CT) when they take on Germany in Portage.