Canadian men's hockey team earns shutout win at pre-Olympic tourney
Players being evaluated ahead of 2018 Games
Jesse Blacker scored 1:36 into overtime to lift Canada's men's hockey team to a 1-0 win over HC Sochi on Sunday in its first game at the Sochi Hockey Open.
Blacker took a pass from teammate Justin Azevedo and his shot deflected off a Sochi stick to beat goaltender Konstantin Barulin.
Justin Peters earned the shutout for the Canadians.
Game day! 🇨🇦 drops the puck on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SochiHockeyOpen?src=hash">#SochiHockeyOpen</a> in 15 minutes, taking on host <a href="https://twitter.com/HCSOCHI">@HCSOCHI</a>. Here's how the Canadians will line up... 🏒 <a href="https://t.co/hZTAHYMa9b">pic.twitter.com/hZTAHYMa9b</a>
—@HC_Men"We played a really solid game from start to finish," Peters said. "We had a lot of opportunities to score — their goalie played really well — and they turned it on a bit in the third period and we were able to hold the fort."
Canada plays Russia Monday in its second and final preliminary round game with a spot in the final on the line.
The tournament is being used as an evaluation process for head coach Willie Desjardins ahead of next year's Olympics in Pyeongchang