BILLY BRIDGES LEADS CANADA PAST ITALY 3-1 AT SLEDGE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

HAMAR, Norway – Canada needed to pull itself together after a shaky opening 10 minutes in its first game at the men's sledge hockey world championship.

Billy Bridges struck twice as Canada rallied for a 3-1 win over Italy on Sunday in the preliminary round of the tournament, first tying the game 1-1 and then adding the insurance goal.

Bridges tied the game at the 10:12 mark of the first period, followed by a Brad Bowden goal 29 seconds later.

“I guess the first (goal) came at a bit of a crucial time for our team, we dropped down a goal there unfortunately,” said Bridges. “It actually came off a neutral-zone slap shot. Soon as the guy's cleared out, went right over a defenceman's shoulder, and luckily the goalie didn't really see it.”

Bowden's power-play goal for Canada (1-0) stood as the eventual winner, while Benoit St-Amand made 17 saves to earn the win for Canada.

“He played a good game,” said head coach Mike Mondin. “His angles were real good today and he was really focused. He's got the experience and we know we can count on him.”

There was a disparity in shots, with Italy getting 18 on net compared to Canada's 12.

“We missed the net a lot,” said Mondin. “We tracked our shots and we had some glorious opportunities and didn't capitalize.”

Valerio Corvino scored for Italy (0-1) at the 6:23 mark of the first period for a 1-0 lead. Goaltender Santio Stillitano stopped eight shots.

Earlier in the day, the United States slipped past Estonia 2-1 in a shootout, the Czech Republic shut out Japan 2-0 and Korea beat host Norway 4-1.

Canada plays Korea on Monday in its second Group B match-up.

Penalties:
   03:33 ITA 16 Andrea Chiarotti (Teeing)
   10:35 ITA 69 Giuseppe Condello (Elbowing)

Penalties:
   03:17 CAN 18 Billy Bridges (High Sticking)
   07:44 CAN 18 Billy Bridges (Teeing)
   10:45 ITA 73 Greg Leperdi (Holding)

Penalties:
   08:34 ITA 6 Gianluca Cavaliere (Interference)
   11:47 CAN 12 Greg Westlake (Roughing)