GIROUX LEADS GOLD PAST GREEN IN U17 CAMP OPENER

JASON LA ROSE

CALGARY, Alta. – Damien Giroux (Val Caron, Ont./Sudbury, GNML) had a goal and two assists – all in an eight-minute span in the second period – to help Gold beat Green 3-1 in the curtain-raiser Friday at Canada’s national under-17 development camp.

Samuel Houde (Blainville, Que./Collège Esther-Blondin, LHMAAAQ) had the other two goals for Gold, which won despite managing just 17 shots on goal.

“We did a pretty good job, first time playing together,” Giroux said. “We didn’t have the first period we wanted, got outworked a little bit, but we regrouped and were much better in the second and third periods.”

The Gold goaltending tandem of Cameron Lamour (Naughton, Ont./Sudbury, ONMMAAA) and Olivier Rodrigue (Chicoutimi, Que./Jonquière, LHMAAAQ) combined for the 23-save win, with just a late goal from Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, Ont./Quinte, OMHA) keeping them from a shared shutout.

Both teams had their chances in the first period, with each getting two chances on the power play, but Lamour and Green counterpart Kevin Mandolese (Blainville, Que./Collège Esther-Blondin, LHMAAAQ) got the game to the first intermission scoreless.

Ty Dellandrea (Port Perry, Ont./Central Ontario, OMHA) had the best scoring chance of the opening frame, beating Lamour but not the post on a late-period man advantage.

Houde finally got the scoring started just past the six-minute mark of the second period, squeezing a shot under the arm of Mandolese.

He added a second just over four minutes later, tapping in a pretty feed from Paycen Bjorklund (Grande Prairie, Alta./Grande Peace, AMHL) past Duncan McGovern (Winnipeg, Man./Central Plains, MMAAAHL), who replaced Mandolese midway through the period.

Giroux added a goal to his two assists at 14:12, going bar down over the short-side shoulder of McGovern.

“Player on the other team lost the puck in the neutral zone and I was lucky enough to pick it up,” he said of his marker. “I had a two-on-one, saw that the defenceman was going down to block the pass and the goalie was cheating a little bit, so I just hoped for the best and shot, and thankfully it went bar down.”

Green pressed for the tying goal in the third period, outshooting Gold 11-4, but couldn’t find a way to get enough pucks past Rodrigue, who stopped 12 of 13 shots in his 28 minutes of work.

Dunkley spoiled the shutout with 2:03 left, beating Rodrigue from the slot.

“We had a good first, we were right there going strong, and unfortunately we had a rough second, but we came back strong in the third,” Dellandrea said. “We got one late and felt we were still in the game, but we just didn’t have enough time.”

Gold goes for two wins in as many days when it takes on Black on Saturday night (5 p.m. MT), while Green returns to the ice Sunday, taking on Black (4:45 p.m. MT).