2017-18 National Para Hockey Team

HICKEY HELPS CANADA BLANK KOREANS, WIN PARA SERIES

JASON LA ROSE

GANGNEUNG, South Korea – Liam Hickey (St. John’s, N.L.) scored a hat trick and added two assists to lead Canada’s National Sledge Team to a 9-0 win over Korea in the middle game of their three-game para hockey series Tuesday.

The Canadians clinched a series win after a 3-1 victory in the opening game Sunday.

Dominic Cozzolino (Mississauga, Ont.) added two goals and an assist in the win, while Billy Bridges (Summerside, P.E.I.) and Greg Westlake (Oakville, Ont.) had a goal and two helpers each.

Dominic Larocque (Quebec City, Que.) recorded the shutout in the Canadian goal.

The offence was rolling early, with three goals before the 10-minute mark of the first period. Cozzolino and Hickey set up Bridges at 4:32, Bryan Sholomicki (Winnipeg, Man.) doubled the lead at 8:56 and Hickey got his first 19 seconds after that to put the Canadians in control early.

Cozzolino netted his two goals early in the second period before another pair of quick-strike markers – Westlake and Hickey, 1:27 apart – pushed the advantage to 7-0 through two periods.

Adam Dixon (Midland, Ont.) got in on the action with less than five minutes to go off a set-up from Hickey before Hickey finished his hat trick 40 seconds later to complete the scoring.

The teams finish the series – part of Paralympic preparations – with a Thursday morning game in Korea; the puck drops in Canada at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Wednesday night.