USA leads U17 tournament as both Canadian teams suffer losses

The United States moved one step closer to clinching a spot in the championship final following their victory over Canada Red on Monday night at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, while Canada Black fell to Sweden in overtime.

Langley Events Centre (LEC) and Delta’s Sungod Arena are co-hosting the seven-team, 10-day tournament, which wraps up on Saturday (November 12) with the gold-medal game at the Langley arena at 5 p.m.

United States 5 Canada Red 2 (Langley Events Centre)

American players James Hagens and Cole Eiserman continue to wreak havoc on opposing defences.

Hagens scored twice as part of a four-point night while his linemate had a pair of goals and one assist as the United States defeated Canada Red 5-2 to improve to 4-0 on the tournament. Eiserman has found the back of the net in each of those games and leads all scorers with nine goals and is second with 11 points, one behind Hagen’s dozen points.

“That line has been really hot, and they have just made a lot of plays and they have some natural finishing ability,” explained US coach Nick Fohr. “But as a group, the rest of the guys have done a pretty good job. There are goals coming from every line and that is just guys buying in to playing the right way and having enough skills to make some plays and capitalize when they have opportunities.”

Jack Parson made 25 saves on 27 shots for the US team and was named the Player of the Game while Canada Red’s Berkly Catton (one goal, one assist) took the honours for his team. Chase Wutzke finished with 25 saves in a losing effort.

Sweden 4 Canada Black 3 OT (Langley Events Centre)

Emil Stadin’s overtime winner capped off a rally from a 3-1 deficit as Sweden edged Canada Red 4-3.

The open ice of 3-on-3 overtime played to Sweden’s strength as they possessed the puck for the entire 2:17 of the extra period with Canada Black goaltender Louka Cloutier managing to just get a piece of the puck as Stadin’s shot from the slot found its way through.

“It is hard for us to play that here in the smaller rinks – the guys are not used to that – but the three-on-three game, the skillful guys we have, I think that was a big reason (we were able to win),” said Sweden coach Johan Rosén.

The game was scoreless through 20 minutes before they combined for four goals in a 3:17 span with Lucas Karmiris, Cole Beaudoin and Bode Stewart scoring for the Canadians. Sweden’s Lucas Petterson tied the score at one and then added a second, cutting the deficit to 3-2 with a goal late in the middle frame. Oscar Davidsson forced overtime with 4:13 to play in regulation, setting the stage for Stadin’s OT winner.

Petterson (Sweden) and Lucas Karmiris (Canada Black) were their teams’ respective Players of the Game. Louka Cloutier finished with 37 saves for Canada Black while Hugo Laring made 33 saves in the Swedish net.

READ ALSO: Giants defenceman Colton Roberts named to Canada U17 team roster

Over at SunGod, Goaltender Kim Saarinen stopped 30 of 31 shots as Finland won a second game in a row, defeating Czechia 3-1.

READ ALSO: Canada versus Canada goes into overtime at World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Langley