Team Canada confronted Kazakhstan on Tuesday with a steadfast resolve to maintain their winning streak as they advanced towards the Quarter-Finals. A win would keep them in the top position in Group B. Their recent victory over Team Switzerland on Sunday resulted in a commanding 8-1 score in favor of Team Canada as they remained undefeated heading in to the game against Kazakhstan.
Goaltenders:
TEAM CAN – Carter George
TEAM KAZ – Tanirkhan Alpysbayev
Period 1
Liam Greentree initiated Canada’s offense in the first period on a backhanded shot that made its way past Tanirkhan Alpysbayev. Ollie Josephson had provided the assist on the play. Team Canada takes the lead, 1-0 (5:01). Team Kazakhstan responded a few minutes later with Assanali Sarkenov’s one-timer off a pass by Korney Korneyev. Raty Durglishvili would get that assist credit as we are even at 1-1 (11:34).
Canada regained the lead as Tij Iginla scored his fourth goal of the tournament, after snagging a pass from Ryder Ritchie and shooting a wrist shot under the arm of Alpysbayev. Marat Sagymbayev was called for hooking and Team Canada was given the penalty shot but was unable to score on that penalty (12:23).
However, it was Tij Ignila of Team Canada who managed to regain the lead for Canada by scoring a goal past Alpysbayev who nearly caught the puck but could not hold on, resulting in a score of 2-1 in favor of Canada. Both Ritchie and Jett Luchanko provided the assists (15:42).
After Karim Kazhibekov received a penalty for high sticking, Team Canada capitalized on the PowerPlay opportunity. Maxim Masse scored off a precise pass from Gavin McKenna, extending Canada’s lead (17:12). Porter Marone contributed to the goal with an assist. Team Canada now commands a 3-1 lead over Team Kazakhstan as the period concluded.
Shots on Goal:
CAN – 22
KAZ – 5
Period 2
Cole Beaudoin scored Team Canada’s first goal of the second frame by capitalizing on the rebound and skillfully bringing Team Canada ahead by 4-1 (3:02). Malcom Spence and Spencer Hill each get the point for assisting on that play.
Shortly after, Henry Mews netted a shot past Alpysbayev, extending the lead to 5-1, with Gavin McKenna tallying another assist, as well as Martone (4:40).
Caleb Desnoyers would keep the goals rolling in for Canada as he scored his first goal of the tournament at 7:40 in the second period bringing us to 6-1 at 7:40. Not long after, McKenna scored his first goal of the game with a skillful forehand-to-backhand move, after the solid pass made from Martone. Team Canada now led Team Kazakhstan 7-1 (10:26).
This led to a goaltending change for Team Kazakhstan, with Alpysbayev being replaced by Danil Lytkin. Masse is called for interference and Team Canada goes on the PK, which they kill off successfully.
Lytkin was unable to keep Team Canada at bay for long, resulting in another goal for Canada as the skillful McKenna made a precise pass to Martone, who fed the puck to the back of the net smoothly. Team Canada now led Team Kazakhstan at 16:18 of the second period by a score of 8-1. Desnoyers is then called for boarding and Team Kazakhstan is given the man advantage once more. However, Team Canada kept Team Kazakhstan from gaining any solid scoring chances as the period would come to a close.
Shots on Goal:
CAN – 17
KAZ – 7
Period 3
Still on the PowerPlay as we began the third, Assanali Sarkenov scored early in the third for Kazakhstan off an assist by Abzal Alibek and Mstislav Shiplin. Team Canada still maintained their commanding lead with a score of 8-2 (0:39).
Frankie Marrelli secures another on the scoreboard for Team Canada with an assist from Liam Greentree and Desnoyers, extending the Canadian lead to 9 goals against Team Kazakhstan holding steady with a score of 2 (3:45). After a few back-and-forth penalties on both sides, it would be Gavin McKenna that would break the PP with goal number 10 for Team Canada (14:48)
In the third period, Sarkenov completed a breakaway with five minutes remaining, earning a hat-trick goal by outmaneuvering Canadian goaltender Carter George. Despite this accomplishment, Kazakhstan continued to face a scoring deficit of 10-3 at 15:29, with time rapidly running out. Team Canada would not give Team Kazakhstan any chance to recover, as they put up another goal at the hands of Brunicke, Spence, and Beaudoin assisting, bringing Canada’s score to 11-3 (16:37).
Shots on Goal:
CAN – 27
KAZ – 4
Summary:
Canada has now clinched the top position in Group B after the commanding 11-3 victory over Kazakhstan. Canada launched an impressive total of 66 shots on Alpysbayev and Lytkin, underscoring the efforts of the goaltending duo from Team Kazakhstan in their endeavor to maintain some sense of control.
Canada’s Gavin McKenna, with two goals and four assists, and Porter Martone, contributing with one goal and four assists, collectively amassed 11 points to spearhead the formidable Canadian offense. McKenna’s impressive six-point performance brought his tournament total to 14 points, positioning him in second place among all players currently in the tournament. He is currently trailing only Team USA’s James Hagens, who leads the tournament with 16 points (7 goals and 9 assists). Martone now has 13 points, securing the third position among the UA18 rankings.
Canada is set to face off against Latvia in the quarter-final match scheduled for Thursday. Despite Latvia’s fourth-place finish in Group A with a 1-3 record, they secured a victory with a 5-3 score against Slovakia. Considering Latvia’s track record of challenging even the strongest teams in the tournament, Canada will need to be wary of their upcoming opponent.
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