THE CANADIAN PRESS
SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Maybe Pavel Chernov wanted Jake Allen to know how it feels to lose an international hockey game on home soil.
Chernov beat Allen for a pair of short-handed goals and added an assist to lead Russia to a 4-3 win over the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League all-stars in the second game of the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge at Harbour Station Wednesday.
Chernov was part of the team Allen stymied in an 8-0 shutout as Canada won the world under-18 championship on Russian soil in April. He was happy to return the favour in front of a crowd of 6,451, just over an hour from Allen’s hometown of Fredericton.
"I try to score goals against any goalie," Chernov said through an interpreter, laughing when he was told it was the same goalie. "I was OK but I could maybe play better."
Mikhail Pashnin and Evgeny Dadonov had the other Russian goals, Anatoly Nikontsev had two assists and Sergey Gayduchenko made 30 saves for the win.
Maxime Sauve, Luke Adam and Paul Byron scored for Team QMJHL, while Allen stopped 29 shots in the loss.
Team QMJHL started slow, managing just five shots and trailing 1-0 after the first period, but improved as the game went on and was in it until the final buzzer.
The CHL squad had 17 of their 33 shots in the third period, but managed to get just one past Gayduchenko, on a high wrist shot from the left wing by Byron, who made it 4-3 with less than four minutes to go.
The Russians, who had made it 4-2 on Dadonov’s goal just nine seconds earlier, called a timeout after Byron’s goal. They were able to regroup and hold QMJHL off, even killing off a late power play when Mikhail Pashnin was sent off for checking from behind in the last minute.
QMJHL finished 0-for-8 on the power play, while Russia was 0-for-1.
"We didn’t play with intensity in the first period, then we came out and their goalie was really standing on his head and we missed a lot of opportunities," said Quebec Remparts forward Kelsey Tessier of Moncton.
The six-game showcase serves as an evaluation opportunity leading up to Canada’s December selection camp for the world junior championship team.
.The Russians split their two games against the QMJHL, and will move on to play the Ontario and Western League stars. Canada head coach Pat Quinn and head scout Al Murray were in the stands Wednesday, while Team QMJHL coach Guy Boucher is an assistant for the world junior team.
Tessier said he enjoyed playing in the series, which began with a 5-3 win over the Russians Monday in Sydney, N.S.
"It was a fun experience, we made friends and definitely we have Hockey Canada in the back of our minds, that’s what we’re fighting for," he said.
Rimouski Oceanic forward Patrice Cormier of Cap-Pele agreed.
"The off-ice experience was very good. A lot of the guys, I’ve never gotten to meet. I play against them every year but you see a different side of them off the ice," he said. "On the ice, playing the Russians for the first time was a big challenge for all of us and we responded well."
.(Saint John Telegraph-Journal)
