Matt Murray of St. Albert stopped 27 of 28 shots for Team Canada West in Saturday’s gold-medal game at the 10th annual World Junior A Challenge in Cobourg, Ont.
The Spruce Grove Saints’ netminder in the Alberta Junior Hockey League played a major role in the victory. The Russians poured on the pressure in the late stages and cut the deficit to one with 36 seconds to play but Murray shut the door to preserve the win.
It was a scoreless tilt until Canada West hit the scoreboard at 2:13 of the third period and made it 2-0 at the 17-minute mark.
Murray finished the tournament 4-0 with a 2.75 GAA and .912 save percentage for the undefeated Canada West lineup that included 11 AJHL players.
In pool play, Murray registered 32 saves in the 7-3 decision against the Czech Republic and 31 saves in the 3-2 win against the United States. He also posted 24 saves in the 8-5 semifinal scorefest against Canada East. The teams combined for nine goals in the last 20 minutes, including six by Canada West.
Murray, 17, played for the 2013/14 St. Albert Flyers in the Alberta Minor Midget AAA Hockey League before breaking into the AJHL with the 2015 playoff champion Saints.
This season Murray is 15-3 with a 2.38 GAA, two shutouts and .919 save percentage for the first-place Saints (31-6-2) after going 14-1 in his AJHL debut with a 1.72 GAA, two shutouts and .920 save percentage.
The St. Albert Merchants skate into the new year with three wins in five games in December.
The last contest before the Christmas break for the Capital Junior B Hockey League team was Friday’s 6-3 decision against the last-place Spruce Grove Regals (4-20-2) at Grant Fuhr Arena.
Casey Reid’s second goal of the night was an empty-netter and the assistant captain also assisted on both Krys Kraychy’s goals.
Jake Mercier struck twice and captain Dan Rombough picked two assists.
The Merchants led 3-1 after the first period and 4-2 after 40 minutes.
Mercier sniped the insurance marker with 62 seconds remaining.
The visitors also converted two out of three power-play opportunities.
Shots were 17-5 in the first and 41-28 overall for the Merchants. Ryen Papirny (3-2, 3.56 GAA) recorded the win in a rare start.
The victory lifted the Merchants (15-10-2) to within two points of the third-place Beverly Warriors (16-8-2) in the west standings.
The first of 11 games in 2016 before the playoffs is Jan. 3 against the CJHL-leading Edmonton Royals (22-5) at 8 p.m. at Confederation Arena.
The next home game is Jan. 8 against the rival Morinville Jets (12-14-1) at 8 p.m. at Akinsdale Arena.
The St. Albert Gregg Distributors Sabres were looking for a bounce-back game Monday after losing to the Sherwood Park Flyers in the Alberta Major Bantam Hockey League.
The score against the KC Squires (8-6-7) was unavailable at press time.
The Sabres (17-4-4) remain winless against the Flyers (21-2-1) in league play after Saturday’s 4-2 setback at Akinsdale Arena. The Sabres were missing five regulars: two defencemen and three forwards.
In Sherwood Park, the teams battled to a 4-4 draw Sept. 27 and the Sabres fell 7-3 Nov. 30 but the St. Albert squad beat the Flyers 5-3 at the NWCAA Invitational Tournament last month in Calgary.
In the third league clash, both teams tallied twice in the middle period and in the third the Flyers converted their only power-play opportunity of the contest at 5:57 and scored their fourth goal at 8:34.
Affiliate forward Ethan Leyer found the back of the net and drew an assist on Logan McKinley’s goal to make it 2-1 with 3:49 left in the second.
Leyer has two goals and two assists in four games as a call-up from the St. Albert Blues in the Edmonton Rural Bantam AA Hockey League. He shares the league lead in points with 35 in 21 games and is second in goals with 23.
The Sabres were outshot 32-27 and Evan Fradette (9-1-3, 2.05 GAA) was in net.
The day before the Sabres defeated the Canadian Athletic Club (11-10-2) 4-1 at Callingwood Arena on goals by Austin Spiridakis (power play), Braydon Iwaschuk, McKinley and Kye Buchanan (empty net).
Shots were 39-20 for the Sabres and Ryley Osland (8-3-1, 2.47 GAA) was between the pipes.
