Ben Kindel and Xavier Villeneuve each had a goal and assist as Canada won its third consecutive game at the U-18 men’s world hockey championship on Sunday with a 5-1 decision over Finland at the Texas Event Center. The victory got Canada 1st place in group A.
Ben Kindel who just joined the team after the Hitmen got dumped by the Lethbridge Hurricanes opened up the scoring for Canada at 3:19 of the first period. The helpers on the goal went to Ryan Roobroeck and Lev Katzin.– Fresh off a 99-point season in Calgary, Kindel kicked off the scoring on the powerplay with a one-timer from just inside the right faceoff dot in the first period.
Shots in the first period were Canada 5 Finland 4.
Braeden Cootes made it a 2-0 game at 4:04 of the second period. The assists on the goal went to Lev Katzin and Brady Martin.– Cootes gave his team some more breathing room as he capped off a two-on-one rush with a perfectly-placed shot for his third goal in as many games.
Xavier Villeneuve scored at 4:31 of the second period to make it a 3-0 game. The assist on the goal went to Brampton, Ontario native Ethan Czata.
Victoria Royals Cole Reschny made it 4-0 at 9:39 of the second period from Ben Kindell and Xavier Villeneuve.– Reschny, who was also making his tournament debut along with Kindel, made it a 4-0 match with a powerful one-timer from the faceoff dot on a 5-on-3 power play.
Shots on goal in the second period were 15-12 for Finland.
HIFK’s Jere Somervuori got the Finns on the board at 4:40 of the third period. The assists on the goal went to Lasse Boelius and Aapo Vanninen.
Brady Martin scored on the empty net unassisted to make the score 5-1 with 10 seconds remaining in the game.
Shots on goal in the third period were 21-3 for Finland. Finland outshot Canada 40-20 in the game.
For the Canadians Jack Ivankovic stopped 39 of the 40 shots that he faced for the win. For the Finns Patrik Kerkola made 15 saves on the 19 shots that he faced.
Player of the game for Finland was Lasse Boelius for Canada it was Jack Ivankovic
Canada’s next game is Monday against Norway
#9 Ben Kindel, RW: Kindel was added to Canada’s roster officially just two hours before puck drop but wasted no time making an impact. He scored the 1-0 goal and then assisted the 4-0 shot on the power play to put the game to rest. Kindel was so good during the WHL regular season, and everyone knew he’d be a huge asset for Canada if he ended up coming over. So far, so good. LINK
