EDMONTON – Jamie Drysdale scored the game’s only goal as Canada defeated Russia 1-0 on Wednesday in a pre-tournament game ahead of the world junior hockey championship.
Drysdale beat Russian goalie Artur Akhtyamov at 3:52 of the third period. Cole Perfetti and Bowen Byram had assists.
Canada netminder Devon Levi made 23 saves for the shutout.
Akhtyamov, who played the third period, made six saves. Yaroslav Askarov saved all 22 shots he faced over the first 40 minutes.
It was the first and only warmup game for Canada ahead of the competition.
Canada and Russia met in the 2020 world juniors final last January in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Canada won gold with a 4-3 victory.
Slovakia and the Czech Republic were scheduled to play in the late game Wednesday night at Rogers Place.
The 2021 event is modelled on the NHL’s “bubble” that was successfully used earlier this year in the same arena.
The preliminary round begins Friday. Canada is in a pool with Finland, Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany.
The United States, Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Austria are in Pool B.
The championship game is set for Jan. 5.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2020.
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