MJAHL ALL-STARS EARN BACK-AND-FORTH WIN OVER CANADA EAST

TRURO, N.S. – Matt Milson’s goal in the ninth round of the shootout capped a wild game as the Maritime Junior A Hockey League all-stars scored a 6-5 victory over Canada East at the Colchester Legion Stadium on Thursday night.

The MJAHL blew leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 5-4 but still found a way to pick up the win thanks to a lethal power play – it finished 3-for-5 with the man advantage – and stellar goaltending from Kirk Rafuse, who made 30 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped six of the nine shooters in the shootout to record the win in front of his hometown fans.

Down 3-1 after 20 minutes, Canada East received goals from Greg Carey (Hamilton, Ont./Burlington, CCHL), Jacob Laliberte (Rockland, Ont./Cornwall, CJHL) and David Pratt (Napanee, Ont./Wellington, CCHL) to take a 4-3 lead, only to see that evaporate before the end of the middle frame.

David Roy (Cumberland, Ont./Brockville, CJHL) scored the only goal of the third period, though, to bring Canada East back once more and eventually force overtime.

The MJAHL all-stars will look for a clean sweep of World Junior A Challenge competition when they take on Belarus in Amherst, N.S. on Friday night (7:30 p.m. AT), while Canada East will look to rebound when it faces Russia in O’Leary, P.E.I. (7:30 p.m. AT).