Penticton Vees forward Cole Shepard had two assists in Team Canada Red’s 4-3 overtime win against Finland on Tuesday at the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
The win, places Canada Red in a three-way tie for second place with Sweden and Finland in Group B.
Shepard started the game on the top forward line with centre Justin Sourdif (Surrey, B.C./Vancouver, WHL) and Jacob Perreault (Hinsdale, Ill./Sarnia, OHL).
“We just want to keep playing to our identity. I think we’re a fast team and we grind it out. Obviously, we want to stay out of the box a little more. We were undisciplined, a lot of tripping and a lot of hooking, so we need to take those away to have success in the quarters. Most importantly, we want to stay true to our identity, which is applying a lot of pressure and playing fast,” said Louis Robitaille, head coach for Team Canada Red.
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Finland jumped out with a lead after a power play goal in the first period but Canada Red surged back scoring three in the middle frame.
Related: Canada Red defeats Sweden in OT
Stephen Halliday (Toronto, Ont./Central Illinois, USHL) tied the game at 4:26, slipping a rebound past the Finnish net minder. Shepard then assisted on the next goal with Sourdif cruising into the slot and putting the puck over the blocker side for the 2-1 goal at 8:54. Nolan Seed (Newboro, Ont./Owen Sound, OHL) banked a centering pass off a Finn and in to make it a two-goal lead at 16:16.
But the Finns kept coming, and put two past Canada Red goalie Dylan Garand (Victoria, B.C./Kamloops, WHL) – from Ruben Rafkin and Joel Määttä – in the third period to get the game to overtime.
Related: Vees player named to Canada Under-17 team
With a shootout on the horizon, Seth Jarvis (Winnipeg, Man./Portland, WHL) took a pass from Shepard and found himself all alone in front, tucking the winner around Finnish netminder Joel Blomqvist with just 9.8 seconds to go in the extra period.
Team Canada Red will next face the U.S. on Thursday, Nov. 8 (7:30 p.m. AST) to round out play in Group B.
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