OHL claims second Canada-Russia win

Sudbury, ON - Shawn Matthias of the Belleville Bulls scored a goal and an assist to lead the Ontario Hockey League to a 4-2 win over Russia in Game 4 of the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge on Monday.

John Tavares of the Oshawa Generals opened the scoring just under four minutes into the game before Vadim Golubtsov replied for Russia while shorthanded midway through the first period.

Bulls’ teammates Bryan Cameron and Matthias scored a little more than three minutes apart early in the second period to give the OHL a two-goal cushion.

Alexander Vasyunov brought the Russians to within one goal when he scored late in the second period but Nick Spaling of the Kitchener Rangers iced the game with a marker late in the third period.

Trevor Cann of the Peterborough Petes made 16 saves for the win while Russian goaltender Sergey Gayduchenko allowed four goals on 26 shots in the loss.

The win gave the OHL a sweep of their two games while the Russians fell to 1-2-0-1.

"A lot of these kids played a lot of hockey over the past four days and I thought they showed a lot of character," said OHL coach Craig Hartsburg of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, who will guide Team Canada for the second straight year at the World Junior Championships at Christmas. "It was a good solid effort. The Ontario kids did really great and we were really proud of them."

Matthias and Cameron were joined by Bulls’ teammates Matt Beleskey, P.K. Subban and Shawn Lalonde.

"It was exciting," said Matthias, who also played in the series last year. "The Russians were a lot better than last year. Our team came together at the end. We were a little shaky at the start but we came on strong at the end."

The series continues on Wednesday in Cranbrook, B.C. (11:30 p.m. Eastern on Rogers Sportsnet) and concludes in Medicine Hat, Alberta on November 29. All games will be shown nationally on Rogers Sportsnet.