CALGARY, Alberta -- Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) tallied two goals and two assists, becoming the first American sled hockey player to reach the 300 career points milestone, as the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team skated to a 5-1 victory over Canada here today in the opening game of the 2024 April Sled Series at the WinSport Arena. 

“The game was a little hard for us at times today, but we hung in there and focused on playing the game the right way,” said David Hoff, head coach of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. “It paid off as the game wore on.”

David Eustace (Stoneham, Mass.) opened the scoring 3:35 into the contest, redirecting a feed from Kevin McKee (Davenport, Iowa) on the doorstep. 

Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.) put Team USA up 2-0 with 1:25 remaining in the first after he carried the puck into the zone before capitalizing with a short-side wrister from the slot while on the power play.

After a scoreless second period, Noah Grove (Frederick, Md.) fired a shot the length of the ice into an empty net at 10:47 in the final frame to give Team USA a 3-0 lead. Just 13 seconds later, Farmer scored off a pass from Roybal, and then he picked up another goal just :11 after that, to put the U.S. up 5-0.

Canada scored with 1:56 to go to account for the 5-1 final.

Team USA is back in action Friday night at 6:00 p.m. MT at WinSport Arena in game two of the series. The game will stream live here. 

NOTES: Team USA was 0-3 on the power play, while Canada was 1-2 … The U.S. outshot Canada 28-12 … Farmer’s 300 career points include 169 goals and 131 assists.