OTTAWA, Ont. – Preliminary-round action wrapped up at the 2021 Capital City Challenge on Monday night, and Team Canada Black secured its spot atop the standings with a 10-5 win over Team Canada White.
TEAM CANADA BLACK 10, TEAM CANADA WHITE 5 It was an offensive affair in the final game of the preliminary round, with Zach Benson (Chilliwack, B.C./Winnipeg, WHL) and Calum Ritchie (Oakville, Ont./Oshawa, OHL) leading the charge for Canada Black. Benson finished the night with a hat trick and four assists, while Ritchie posted a hat trick and a pair of helpers. Despite the loss, Ethan Gauthier (Drummondville, Que./Sherbrooke, QMJHL) had a three-point night (one goal, two assists) and Matthew Soto (Oakville, Ont./Kingston, OHL) chipped in with a goal and an assist for Canada White.
“Our line has been moving the puck well. We have a lot of speed and have been using that to our advantage. Playing with Calum [Ritchie] is great, he is a great guy off the ice and a very skilled player with a lot of hockey IQ on the ice, so he is fun to play with. You add in Ty [Halaburda], who is so fast and physical. He works hard, never takes a shift off and wins puck battles, and they are both great linemates.” - Benson on playing with Ritchie and Ty Halaburda (Victoria, B.C./Vancouver, WHL)
“I like the way we start games. We were strong on the puck and got some good pressure today, and we were able to generate a lot of offence. Our transition game is very quick, and that is because our defence are moving the puck up quickly. We have a lot of speed and have been taking advantage of the power play, and I like the commitment of our team. From our first day here, we have focused on building chemistry and our team is buying into that. Our players deserve what they have worked for, and I am very happy for them.” - Canada Black head coach Stéphane Julien (Shawinigan, Que./Sherbrooke, QMJHL) on his team’s success
“We took eight minor penalties, and that is just too many and it is really hurting us. We have to stop taking those penalties, even going back to our game against [Canada Red], we had two five-on-three penalty kills. If we do that tomorrow, we will unfortunately be on the losing end. We have played well at five-on-five, but we found ourselves having to fight back, and we cannot do that in tomorrow’s game.” - Canada White head coach Rob Wilson (Toronto/Peterborough, Ont.) on limiting penalties
NEXT GAMES (NOV. 30 - SEMIFINALS) Team Canada White vs. Team Canada Red (2:30 p.m. ET) - STATISTICS | LIVESTREAM National Women’s Team vs. Team Canada Black (7 p.m. ET) - STATISTICS | LIVESTREAM
STANDINGS Team Canada Black 3-0-0-0 | 21GF 8GA | 9 points Team Canada Red 2-0-0-1 | 13GF 9GA | 6 points Team Canada White 1-0-0-2 | 14GF 17GA | 3 points National Women’s Team 0-0-0-3 | 4GF 18GA | 0 points
LEADING SCORERS Zach Benson (Black) 5G 4A 9P Calum Ritchie (Black) 4G 3A 7P Ethan Gauthier (White) 1G 6A 7P Matthew Wood (Red) 3G 3A 6P Mathieu Cataford (White) 2G 3A 5P
LEADING GOALTENDERS Jackson Unger (Red) 1-0 / 1.00 GAA / .960 SV% Joseph Costanzo (Black) 1-0 / 1.00 GAA / .933 SV% Ann-Renée Desbiens (NWT) 0-1 / 4.00 GAA / .929 SV% Scott Ratzlaff (White) 0-1 / 3.00 GAA / 0.893 SV% Mason Vaccari (Black) 1-0 / 3.50 GAA / .873 SV%
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