Sixth consecutive title for USA

The USA sealed its sixth consecutive Canadian Tire Para Hockey Cup title on Saturday (7 December) with a 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Canada in Paradise, Newfoundland. The Americans finished the tournament unbeaten, outscoring its opponents 25-2.

In the gold-medal game, two-time Paralympic champion Declan Farmer broke open a scoreless contest with a power-play goal in the second period and Josh Hargis, skating in just his second season, added another early in the third frame.

Veteran Billy Bridges put Canada on the scoreboard a minute after Hargis’ goal and Canada went on a 5-1 shots run to finish the match, but USA’s netminder Steve Cash held his own between the pipes to help his team secure the win.

The USA outshot Canada 21-7 on the night in front of a packed crowd and has now won 30 matches in a row at the tournament dating back to 2013 title game.

Earlier in the day, Russia defeated the Czech Republic, 5-0, to capture the bronze just two weeks after taking gold at the World Championships B-Pool. Nikolai Terentev found the back of the net twice, Airat Khamzin registered a goal and a helper and Evgenii Plotnikov made nine saves in the net for Russia.

Ilia Volkov and Aleksei Ermin also scored for Russia, which earned its first medal at the competition since 2015. Michal Vapenka recorded 24 saves for the Czech Republic.