BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Canada dropped its tournament opener at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup on Monday, falling to Russia 4-3 in a shootout.
Joe Veleno found the back of the net in the shootout for the Canadians, but Russia's Ruslan Iskakov struck twice in the shootout for the victory.
Calen Addison had three assists to lead the Canadian offence, setting up regulation-time goals from Barrett Hayton, Jack McBain and Akil Thomas. Alexis Gravel took the loss.
The Canadians face Finland on Tuesday.
"We had a great start, and you could tell that the guys were excited to play," said Canada coach Brent Kisio.
"The game had a lot of ups and downs, and at the end of the day we needed to capitalize on our chances. I have no doubt that our group will bounce back, and be ready for a competitive game against Finland."
Canada has won gold 20 times in 25 years of summer under-18 competition.
The Canadian Press