Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) scored twice and Noah Grove (Frederick, Md.) had three assists to help the U.S. National Sled Team to a 4-1 victory over Canada tonight in the third and final preliminary round game for both teams in the 2019 Canadian Tire Para Hockey Cup.
"Beating Canada never gets old," said David Hoff (Bottineau, N.D.), head coach of the 2019-20 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. "But we’re now focused on the Czech Republic tomorrow. We took care of business today, but we can’t let off the gas heading into the semifinals."
The U.S. finished unbeaten (3-0-0-0) in the preliminary round and will face the Czech Republic in tomorrow's (Dec. 5) semifinals. Opening faceoff is set for 10:30 a.m. ET at the Paradise Double Ice Complex and will be streamed live here.
The U.S. scored the only goal of the opening period less than three minutes into the contest when Rico Roman (Portland, Ore.) beat Canada goaltender Corbin Watson on the blocker side less than three minutes into the game.
Less than five minutes into the second period Grove sent the puck out of the corner towards Farmer, who tapped it into the bottom corner of the net to extend the U.S. lead to 2-0.
Canada got on the board halfway through the second period to cut Team USA’s lead to 2-1 thanks to a power play goal from Tyler McGregor and the U.S. held onto its one-goal edge heading into the second intermission.
The U.S. reclaimed a two-goal lead 3:31 into the third period when Kevin McKee (Chicago, Ill.) converted on a give-and-go with Grove, before Farmer tacked on an empty net goal with 1:12 remaining to account for the 4-1 final.
Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) made 10 saves in the U.S. net to pick up the win.
NOTES: Rico Roman (Portland, Ore.) was named the U.S. Player of the Game...The U.S. outshot Canada 17-11, went 0-for-2 on the powerplay and finished 0-for-1 on the penalty kill ... For complete statistics, click here.
Date | Opponent | TIME (LOCAL/ET)/Result | LOCATION | Broadcast/Stream | U.S. Player of the Game |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sun., Dec. 1 | Russia Preliminary |
W, 3-0 | Paradise Double Ice Complex Paradise, Newfoundland | Livestream | Brody Roybal |
Mon., Dec. 2 | Czech Republic Preliminary |
W, 8-0 | Paradise Double Ice Complex Paradise, Newfoundland | Livestream | Josh Pauls |
Wed., Dec. 4 | Canada Preliminary |
W, 4-1 | Paradise Double Ice Complex Paradise, Newfoundland | Livestream | Rico Roman |
Thurs., Dec. 5 | Czech Republic Semifinals |
W, 8-0 | Paradise Double Ice Complex Paradise, Newfoundland | Livestream | Kevin McKee |
Sat., Dec. 7 | Canada Championship |
W, 2-1 | Paradise Double Ice Complex Paradise, Newfoundland | TSN | Declan Farmer |