Nick Campoli Fantastic as Canada East Wins Final Training Camp Game

Canada East’s final training camp game prior to the 2017 World Junior A Challenge saw the host team defeat the OJHL All-Stars 2-1 in overtime at the Mastercard Centre outside of Toronto, Ontario.

The first period didn’t see much action, with Canada leading the shot count 11-6 after 20 minutes of play. The OJHL All-Stars were made up of the best players born in 1997 from the Ontario Junior Hockey League, Southern Ontario’s top tier two junior league, with players getting fed up to the OHL, NCAA, USports and other local leagues. While Canada had been playing together in various forms for a few days, the OJHL squad was put together for the lone game, with chemistry proving to be an issue.

Canada’s strategy was to get all three of their goalies equal playing time in order to make their decisions going forward. Jett Alexander Nate McDonald would play two periods for OJHL, while Jett Alexander would start the first for Canada East before letting Noah Battaglia take over for the second. Battaglia had some of the busiest action in the game, stopping multiple shots on an early five-on-three penalty kill before the period was even five minutes old.

When the period was half over, the OJHL took the 1-0 lead. Markham Royals forward Jack Jeffers would kill the deadlock after scoring from a tough angle at the side of the net, somehow beating Battaglia for the 1-0 goal.

The Canadians would tie it up two minutes later. This time, Vegas Golden Knights draft pick Nick Campoli fought off a battle in front and poked in a shot in close past Battaglia, with the North York Rangers forward evening the battle at one apiece.

The third period would help decide the fate for many of Canada’s bubble players, meaning a hard-fought effort would be required for the victory. Battaglia was making his case to be one of Canada’s two goalies in Truro, making many big stops, including a one-timer in close with under five minutes left to play.

The game couldn’t be decided in regulation, so an extra 32 seconds in overtime would be required to finish it off. Campoli would be able to beat his Rangers teammate Alexander with a perfectly placed shot, giving Canada the 2-1 win overtime.

Canada will finalize their roster for the tournament in Nova Scotia on Tuesday afternoon. Canada will practice again on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Mastercard Centre before leaving for out east later in the week.

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