Canada drops opener to Russia at U18s

Ruslan Iskakov was the hero for Russia on Monday.

Iskakov scored twice in the shootout to lead Russia to a 4-3 win over the Canadian under-18 team at the 2017 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup in the Czech Republic.

Team Canada captain Joe Veleno went 1-for-2 in the shootout. Akil Thomas of Team Canada and Dmitri Zavgorodny of Russia each scored twice for their respective teams in their round-robin openers.

Defenceman Noah Dobson of Summerside plays for Team Canada. The Canadians take on Finland on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. AT.