DU recruit John Lee helped Team USA to an upset victory in OT against Canada-East in front of a raucous crowd in Nelson, B.C. Meanwhile DU's other recruit in the tournament, Joe Colborne, lost along with his Canada-West teammates to Russia.USA Over Canada-East
USA's Barry Almeida poked in a loose puck past goalie Bryan Gillis at 2:30 of overtime powering Team USA to a 3-2 victory in Group B round robin action at the World Junior A Challenge.
The overtime winner was the second game-winning goal in as many nights for the speedy American winger. Almeida scored with five seconds left in the game Tuesday to sink Belarus 7-6 in round robin action Tuesday.
Russia Defeats Canada-West
Meanwhile, Russia survived a spirited third period Canada West comeback, when Evgeny Grachev stole the puck at the blue line and sent a hard wrist shot past goaltender Bradley Eidsness from the slot for game-winning goal, giving Russia a 4-2 win, and an automatic berth in the semi-finals on Saturday.
For two periods, Russia’s special teams were the difference, as they scoring twice on power plays and killing off a total of 12 consecutive penalties, taking a 2-0 lead into the third period.
Canada West’s Derek Lee (North Vancouver, BC/ Salmon Arm, BCHL) made a game of it with an early goal in the third period, splitting the defense and sliding his own rebound under Danila Alsitratov, much to the delight of the near capacity crowd at the Cominco Arena in Trail.
At 15:08 of the 3rd Period, Chad Ziegler (Spruce Grove, AB/ Drayton Valley, AJHL), a late roster addition due to injury, sent the crowd into a frenzy, as Canada finally cashed in on a power play, evening the score at 2-2. But that only set things up for Grachev’s heroics, putting a sudden end to Canada West’s valiant comeback. Sergey Ostapchuk added an empty net goal to make the final 4-2 Russia.
Both quarter-finals are now set for Thursday where berths in the semi-finals are at stake.
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