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Unfortunately for the Calgary NW Flames, it was them in a battle of winless teams Wednesday at the 2023 Hockey Canada Men’s Under-18 Club Nationals in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.
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Lane Sim had two goals and an assist, and Colby Brown made 44 saves for the Atlantic-champion Pictou County Majors, of Nova Scotia, in a 5-2 victory over the Flames.
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It was the Majors’ first win to improve to 1-2, while the Flames are 0-3 at the six-team tournament to decide a U18 AAA kingpin.
That despite 47 shots against victorious goaltender Colby Brown in a pivotal round-robin affair.
Sim found the back of the net behind Flames goalie Brett O’Halloran on a first-period power play to start scoring.
Max Heise’s second-period goal for the Calgary club then evened up the teams through 40 minutes.
In the third period, Aiden Tucker’s early goal ignited a three-goal run for the Majors, as Sim and Ben Wallace followed with tallies over the next five minutes. Thomas Matte drew the Flames within two with his goal at the 7:19 mark before Clint MacLaughlin’s counter into an empty net rounded out scoring in favour of the Pictou County squad.
With the top-four teams advancing to Saturday’s semifinals, the Flames face a must-win Thursday (10 a.m., www.hockeycanada.ca) against the West-champ Saskatoon Blazers, who are 1-2.
