Canada came away victorious with an 8-4 win over the USA in game one of three at Murrayfield Ice Arena.
This was the inaugural match of the Scotland Ice Hockey Cup. A brand-new competition that sees National Hockey League (NHL) alumni battle it out in the historic capital.
1st Period
It was a strong start for Canada who won the opening face-off. USA soon took possession off them, but it was Mathieu Perreault for Canada who scored the opening goal of the game (1-0, 5:30).
Seconds later, Carter Camper and Peter Mueller for the USA were straight up the ice passing to Mike Knuble to equalise with the puck in the back of the net (1-1, 5:55).
Soon after, Riley Sheahan and Cory Emmerton made their way up the other end the ice and let Karl Alzner slide the puck into the open net to go ahead (1-2, 8:06).
After some dominant play from the USA and multiple shots on goal, Travis Roach and Edinburgh Capitals own Kyle Howie passed the puck across to Knuble who launched it into the back of the net to get his second goal of the match (2-2, 14:12).
The Canadian attack was at full force and Perreault assisted by the Fife Flyer duo, Garet Hunt and Milan Lucic, answered immediately (2-3, 15:02).
End of 1st: 2-3
2nd Period
Another dominant start from Canada saw them extend their lead with Perreault scoring a hattrick minutes into the second period assisted by Hunt and Simon Despres (2-4, 21:19).
After some good shots on the Canada goal and back and forth up the rink Mueller, assisted by Aaron Mckenzie and Lee Goren, finally got the USA their long awaited third goal (3-4, 31:06)
However, the Canadian attacking trio of Perreault, Hunt and Lucic were on fire, leading to Perreault scoring his fourth goal of the game. (3-5, 33:00).
In the final minutes of the period, a few clinks were heard from the posts for both teams. Canada was close to scoring in the final seconds, but it came to no avail.
End of 2nd: 3-5
3rd Period
The Canadian attack was too strong for the USA defence once again with Hunt getting his fourth assist of the game and Nate Beayliew scoring number six for Canada (3-6, 44:07).
However, the Canadian defence let slip for a second a couple minutes later which was enough for Goren, assisted by Mueller and McKenzie, to hit into the top corner of the net (4-6, 47:02).
Sheahan soon took the puck at centre ice after a beautiful pass from another Edinburgh Capitals regular, Sean Stewart, and skated one manned towards the USA goal, smashing it into the right corner (4-7, 50:52).
The USA looked strong again passing back and forth in Canada’s side, getting multiple shots on goal but no success.
Seconds into the last minute of the game, Justin Shugg, assisted by Emmerton and Brandon Purst, rounded out the Canadian scoreboard for number eight. (4-8, 59:02)
End of Game: 4-8
MOTM: Mathieu Perreault
Post-Match
After the match, MOTM and top goal scorer of the night Mathieu Perreault, spoke to ENRG.
He has never been to Scotland before.
He said: “The Hockey is definitely different here.
“It’s more fun. Like we’re just enjoying ourselves and more of the competition itself.
“But the Crowd was great, so that was very nice.”
He then spoke on the Fife Flyers attacking duo he had been paired with.
He said: “The two guys [Hunt and Lucic] I played with seem to connect pretty good and we’re able to score some goals.
“And hopefully we do that again the next couple of games.”
