RED STRIKES TWICE IN THIRD FOR FIRST U18 CAMP WIN

DAVID BRIEN

CALGARY, Alta. – Michael Rasmussen (Surrey, B.C./Tri-City, WHL) scored twice in the third period to give Red a come-from-behind 3-2 win over White in the intrasquad finale Tuesday at Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team selection camp.

The win helped Red avoid a three-game sweep; White scored 5-2 and 3-2 victories Sunday and Monday.

Joseph Veleno (Kirkland, Que./Saint John, QMJHL) paced the Red offence with one goal and two assists, and Ian Scott (Calgary, Alta./Prince Albert, WHL) and Jacob McGrath (Mississauga, Ont./St. Michael’s, OJHL) shared a 27-save win.

Jordy Bellerive (North Vancouver, B.C./Lethbridge, WHL) got White on the board first, showing good patience with the puck in the offensive zone before beating Scott at the 5:50 mark.

Veleno would tie things up just over five minutes later,  spinning off a defender in the corner before firing a wrist shot from the goal line that beat Matt Welsh (Halifax, N.S./Charlottetown, QMJHL) through the five-hole.

White regained the lead late in the opening frame after Matthew Strome (Mississauga, Ont./Hamilton, OHL) crashed the net and tapped in a rebound from in close at 18:22.

Outshot 22-12 through two periods, Red wasted no time pulling even; right off the opening face-off, Veleno carried the puck into the White zone and watched his cross-ice feed redirect onto the stick of Rasmussen, who one-timed a shot past Welsh just 10 seconds in.

Rasmussen struck again midway through the final stanza, jumping on the rebound of a Ryan McLeod (Mississauga, Ont./Mississauga, OHL) point shot in the low slot and beating Welsh for the game-winner.

Final shots on goal favoured White 29-22.

The 44 players invited to camp will now await final decisions on which 22 players will be selected to represent the country at the 2016 U18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Team Canada departs for Europe on Wednesday and takes on the Czech Republic in pre-tournament action Saturday before opening its quest for a ninth-consecutive gold medal Monday against Slovakia.