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Canada blanks Russia 1-0 in world junior hockey tourney tuneup

Canadian captain Dach suffers injury
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Canada’s Kirby Dach (7) is checked by Russia’s Ilya Safonov (24) during third period IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship pre-competition action in Edmonton on Wednesday, December 23, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Jamie Drysdale scored the game’s only goal as Canada defeated Russia 1-0 on Wednesday in a pre-tournament game ahead of the world junior hockey championship in Edmonton.

Drysdale beat Russian goalie Artur Akhtyamov at 3:52 of the third period. Cole Perfetti and Bowen Byram had assists.

Canada netminder Devon Levi made 23 saves for the shutout.

Akhtyamov, who played the third period, made six saves. Yaroslav Askarov saved all 22 shots he faced over the first 40 minutes.

Team Canadian captain Kirby Dach left the game midway through the third period

It was the first and only warmup game for Canada ahead of the competition.

Canada and Russia met in the 2020 world juniors final last January in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Canada won gold with a 4-3 victory.

The 2021 event is modelled on the NHL’s “bubble” that was successfully used earlier this year in the same arena.

The preliminary round begins Friday. Canada is in a pool with Finland, Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany.

The United States, Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Austria are in Pool B.

Canada will take on Germany in group play action on Saturday.

The championship game is set for Jan. 5.

The Canadian Press

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