World Juniors Recap: Canada 1, Russia 0

GAME STATS: Canada 1, Russia 0

EDMONTON, Alta. – Devon Levi (Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que./Northeastern University, HE) continued his run of lights-out netminding with another shutout, Jamie Drysdale (Toronto, Ont./Erie, OHL) scored the lone goal early in the third period and Canada’s National Junior Team blanked Russia 1-0 in pre-tournament play Wednesday ahead of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Levi turned aside all 23 shots he faced in the Canadian goal, stretching his shutout streak – including Red-White games at selection camp – to more than 150 minutes.

“There was a bit of nerves at the beginning of the game, but I got my feet under me and I just enjoyed myself.”

Drysdale provided the offence less than four minutes into the final period, taking a pass from Cole Perfetti (Whitby, Ont./at the blueline and letting go a seeing-eye shot that found its way through traffic and past the blocker of Russian goaltender Artur Akhtyamov.

“There was a good, quick regroup and a good net drive, and Perfetti found me as the high guy. There was a good net presence so I just threw it on net,” the defenceman said. “I kind of saw a little lane and I just did my best to hit it.”

Jamie Drysdale opens the scoring for Canada in their pre-tournament game against Russia!

They lead 1-0 in the third. pic.twitter.com/cK4cLBxcsp

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 24, 2020

Through 40 minutes, the game belonged to Levi and Russian counterpart Yaroslav Askarov, who was perfect in the first two periods before giving way to Akhtyamov to start the third.

Both goaltenders were tested early, with Canada holding the edge in play in the opening minutes of the first period before the Russians found their offensive game late, finishing with an 11-9 edge in shots.

Jakob Pelletier (Quebec City, Que./Val-d’Or, LHJMQ) came closest to opening the scoring, beating Askarov but not the post, and the goaltender fell on the loose puck before the rebound could be poked home.

The Canadians picked up the pace in the second, hemming Russia in its own zone for long stretches without a whistle, but they still couldn’t find a way past Askarov, who turned aside all 22 shots he faced in his 40 minutes of work.

The netminder is no stranger to most of the Canadians; he backstopped Russia to gold with an all-star performance at the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, then made 35 saves in a gold medal game win at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

Peyton Krebs (Okotoks, Alta./Winnipeg, WHL) had the best chance of the middle frame on a Canadian power play but was robbed by the left toe of Askarov from the low slot, and Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, Y.T./Lethbridge, WHL) found himself in tight and lifted his shot over the net only a few minutes later.

Arseni Gritsyuk had a chance to give the Russians the lead late in the second period, sneaking behind the Canadian defence, but his shot missed high to the blocker side of Levi.

The Canadian defence clamped down after the Drysdale goal, holding Russia to just two shots on goal for most of the third period before a late flurry as it pushed to tie the game.

Canada finished with a 29-23 edge in shots overall.

The game was the first for the Canadians as a team, and the first competitive contest for most of the Canadian players since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the hockey world in March.

“I think our players were really excited; we did not want to cross the line between being excited and getting over-emotional and starting to force the game,” said head coach Andre Tourigny. “We stayed really focused, we progressed during the game and improved, and we have a lot to work with.”

Next up is the tournament opener; the Canadians begin preliminary-round play in Group A on Boxing Day when they take on Germany (6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT).