The 2019 Canada Russia Series continued Wednesday night with game one of Team WHL versus Team Russia.
The Kelowna Rockets sent three players to Team WHL with Nolan Foote, Kaedan Korczak and Dillon Hamaliuk helping their squad come back with an overtime-forcing goal with just 22 seconds remaining.
Team WHL then squeaked out a 2-1 overtime win.
It was a defensive battle in game one and Team WHL made the necessary changes with their personnel to get the win.
“We moved some things around in our lines and in our (defence) pairs because we just weren’t generating a lot through 40 minutes,” said Team WHL assistant coach Mitch Love.
“Give the Russians a lot of credit. They were blocking shots and really clogging up the neutral zone where we were really having trouble penetrating their end of the ice, and then their goalie played well too.”
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The annual junior hockey showcase matches Russia’s national junior team against combined squads from the Canadian Hockey League, with two games each against Team WHL, Team OHL and Team QMJHL.
Kelowna’s Nolan Foote provided an assist in the game-tying goal in the dying seconds of the third period. Korczak finished game one with two shots on net while Hamaliuk was held off the score sheet.
The Canada Russia Series will wrap up with game two of Team WHL against Team Russia.
With an 8-7 point lead in the series, the CHL will look to close out the series in a deciding contest Thursday night.
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