2019 Canadian Tire Para Hockey Cup

UNITED STATES TOPS CANADA FOR SIXTH CONSECUTIVE GOLD MEDAL

QUINTON AMUNDSON

PARADISE, N.L. – Declan Farmer and Josh Hargis lit the lamp to guide the United States to a tight 2-1 victory over Canada’s National Para Hockey Team to capture the gold medal at the 2019 Canadian Tire Para Hockey Cup on Saturday night.

The triumph extends the United States’ golden dynasty to six and its incredible winning streak to 30 games in a row. The last time the U.S. experienced defeat was a 3-1 loss to Canada in the 2013 title game in Toronto, Ont.

Canada has now won five gold medals, seven silver and a bronze over the history of the competition.

Steve Cash stopped six of seven shots in net to earn the win for the U.S., which received a two-assist outing from Brody Roybal.

Billy Bridges (Summerside, P.E.I.) scored the lone Canadian goal, but Dominic Larocque (Quebec City, Que.) was the Canadian star of the match as he gave his team a chance to try and forge a comeback by turning aside 19 shots.

Despite neither team finding a way to put a goal on the board, the forever rivals produced a thrilling first period featuring a highly frenetic back-and-forth pace and thunderous checks nearly every shift.

Larocque stepped to the forefront in period one as he faced four tests while Cash did not have to contend with a shot.

Canada nearly scored with its first shot on goal at the three-and-a-half-minute mark of the second period as Cash robbed Corbyn Smith’s (Monkton, Ont.) close-range tip from the slot.

The U.S. then proceeded to take over the stanza as it outshot Canada 10-1 in the frame, and it broke through for the first goal with exactly seven minutes to play before the second intermission.

After peppering Larocque with three earlier shots on a man advantage, Farmer scored his tournament-leading fifth goal by curling off the right boards to unload a snipe past the Canadian goaltender from the deep slot.

Momentum carried over to the third period for the Americans as they recorded six of the first seven shots, culminating in Hargis’ eventual winning goal at 5:42 that saw him cut through the Canadian defence with some silky-smooth stick-handling to beat Larocque with a deke just outside the crease.

Bridges gave the Canadian side hope, and sent the crowd in Paradise into a frenzy, by cutting the deficit to 2-1 just 64 seconds later, beating Cash with a tip off a Tyler McGregor (Forest, Ont.) centring pass.

Canada fed off the energy from the goal. McGregor, Liam Hickey (St. John’s N.L.) and Smith all generated quality attempts, but they could not summon the equalizer before the final horn sounded.