Quick Scout – Canada vs Russia x2

In this the third game of camp, Team Canada again picked up a victory defeating the Russians, this time by a score of 6-3. Canada was not as dominate in this game as they had been previously. The first period was very tight as Russia did a very good job clogging up the neutral zone, creating a ton of turnovers and preventing zone entries. The second period opened up and Canada began to take over scoring 3 goals in the frame. Russia controlled the third but that was largely due to score effects.

Scoring Chances

Sam Bennett – Sam Reinhart – Anthony Duclair     5-1-1-7

Nick Paul – Jason Dickenson – Jeremy Gregoire    2-1-1-4

Michael Dal Colle – Curtis Lazar – Nick Baptiste    1-1-0-2

Jayce Hawrlyuk – Frederik Gauthier – Greg Chase 0-0-1-1

Shea Theodore – Roland McKeown 0-0

Darnell Nurse – Haydn Fleury         0-0

Samuel Morin – Josh Morrissey      0-0

Take these line combinations with a grain of salt as they were shuffled as the game went along. Gauthier was hurt late in the first period and did not return. Darnell Nurse received a checking to the head penalty causing him to miss 10 minutes.  

For Canada I really liked what Sam Bennett and Curtis Lazar did in this game. Bennett struggled at the start taking two penalties in the first period, but settled down after that finishing the game with a team leading 6 chances. He showed off his impressive skill level that made him the fourth overall selection last June. Lazar had the big game putting up a hat-trick. He was heavily leaned on in this game, playing the PK as well as the PP. He handled numerous tough face-offs and was still able to drive play for Canada.

On defence Josh Morrissey had another solid game. Didn’t do anything too flashy but took shots when he had the chance, and did a good job in his own end.  

Ivan Barbashev was the best player in this game for the Russians. The St. Louis second rounder was able to create 5 chances and converted on his last one, showing off his quick release. His line was the one line that I noticed most often generating pressure in the Canadian zone.

Canada's final game tomorrow is an early one, taking on the Czechs at noon eastern.