By Earl Zukerman
McGill’s Gabrielle Davidson scored and teammate Katia Clement-Heydra added a pair of assists as the Canadian women’s hockey team improved to 2-0 at the FISU World University Winter Games thanks to a comfortable 5-0 win over Russia, Thursday afternoon.
Five different players scored against the Russians, including Laura Brooker of Wilfrid Laurier University five minutes and 14 seconds into the contest, Josianne Legault of Montreal 1:20 into the middle frame, as well as Amanda Parkins of Guelph, Gabrielle Davidson of McGill and rearguard Christi Capozzi of UBC in the third.
It was Davidson’s fifth marker of the competition following a four-goal performance versus Spain. Brooker, whose early game-winner came on the power play, also had a hat-trick on Tuesday.
Legault (1-1-2) finished the match with two points, as did Alex Normore of StFX who tallied two assists.
In her first Universiade start, Western goaltender Kelly Campbell made 10 saves to earn the shutout. At the other end of the ice, Anna Prugova was sensational in a losing cause, turning aside 51 of 56 pucks fired her way.
Canada outshot its rival 18-3 in the first stanza, 15-4 in the second and 23-3 in the third but was still up by only three goals with just over two minutes to go in regulation. Davidson and Capozzi then scored 61 seconds apart to put the game away.
“I felt that we played better as a team today, with better puck movement,” said Team Canada head coach Howie Draper from the University of Alberta. “Defensively, we held up and responded to increased pressure from the Russian team. Kelly (Campbell) was solid. Despite the modest quantity of shots, they had some good opportunities to score and she was sharp when tested.
“I’m happy with the way the team is shaping up – we need more consistency but it’s a good step forward.”
Canada, which won the inaugural FISU tournament in 2009 in China and repeated two years ago in Turkey, opened its title defence on Tuesday with a resounding 21-0 victory against Spain. The Canucks are now 16-0 all-time at the biennial tourney and have outscored their opponents by a 123-10 margin overall.
GAME NOTES: Canada has yet to be penalized after two games… The Canadian power play went 1-for-5 against Russia… Not a single penalty was called Tuesday in the game between Canada and Spain.