BRIDGES GETS 300TH POINT AS CANADA OPENS SLEDGE SERIES WITH WIN

INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. – Billy Bridges (Summerside, P.E.I.) had four assists, including the 300th point of his Team Canada career, to help Canada’s National Sledge Team open its three-game series against the United States with a 4-1 win on Thursday afternoon.

Bridges, Canada’s all-time leading scorer, now has 303 points (145 goals, 158 assists) in 163 international games since sledge hockey became an official part of Hockey Canada in 2004.

Kevin Rempel (Vineland, Ont.) scored twice, while Greg Westlake (Oakville, Ont.) and Brad Bowden (Orton, Ont.), added singles for Canada, which has beaten its American rivals four straight times, and has won 16 in a row overall, dating back to February 2013.

The 16-game winning streak is the longest since Hockey Canada took over the sledge hockey program, bettering a 15-game run from April 2011 to January 2012.

Bowden finished with a goal and an assist, and Adam Dixon (Midland, Ont.) had two helpers, while Corbin Watson (Kingsville, Ont.) made 15 saves in the Canadian goal.

The U.S. outshot Canada 16-14.

Just as it did in both wins over the Americans at the 2013 World Sledge Hockey Challenge in Toronto, Ont., last month, Canada erupted for three first-period goals, taking a commanding lead after 15 minutes.

Westlake opened the scoring at 3:13, followed by Bowden at 8:46 and Rempel, on the power play, at 13:13 as Canada made the most of its seven first-period shots.

Nikko Landeros converted a U.S. man advantage to get the Americans on the board five minutes into the second period, but Rempel, on another Canadian power play, restored the three-goal lead just 30 seconds later, rounding out the scoring.

The series continues Friday at the Extreme Ice Center, just outside of Charlotte, with a 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT puck drop, before wrapping up Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT.