Canada vs. Russia.

Even a Friday night pre-world junior championships exhibition game felt special. That Canada dominated, firing 52 shots at goalie Ilya Sorokin, was one thing. That Canada scored but once, that the game went to overtime and that Russia won it 2-1 on a goal by Alexander Sharov, well, that was quite another.

“Their goalie played a hell of a game,” said Team Canada’s Max Domi, who put in a stellar effort all night. “We had a lot of Grade-A scoring chances. We have to be more resilient.

“We established a lot of things we wanted to address except for winning. That will come. Better to go through that now in the exhibition, get the jitters out and get back to work.”

While Canada-Russia matchups are usually memorable, it will be ever more so — for all the wrong reasons — for the Canadian players cut after the game.

Sent home were defenceman Haydn Fleury (a Carolina Hurricanes prospect with Red Deer of the WHL) and forwards Jason Dickinson (Dallas Stars/Guelph Storm), Michael Dal Colle (New York Islanders/Oshawa Generals) and Rourke Chartier (San Jose Sharks/Kelowna).

“I gave it everything I had,” said Dickinson, the first of the four to emerge. “I just wasn’t the player for the slot they needed.”

The cuts got Canada down to its roster limit of 22.

“We came to the conclusion that it was time to get our team together,” said coach Benoit Groulx. “With the addition of Curtis (Lazar, on loan from the Ottawa Senators), we feel we were all set to announce our team.”

As for the game, the Russians seemed tired as most of the players — ones not in Canada’s major junior leagues — arrived in Canada only a few days ago and were more than likely jet-lagged.

As for Canada, there is no doubt some kinks need to be worked out. There were no shortages of mistakes and miscues, passes to nobody, plays that were rushed, chemistry that hadn’t yet found the right combination.

And there were a few communication missteps with goalie Zach Fucale and his defenceman.

“For a first game we thought we did a lot of good things,” said Groulx. “We have to create a little bit more traffic in front of the net. We have to do things on a consistent basis.

“We got better in the third period. We created more confusion in front of their goalie. We had clean chances for two periods but not necessarily a lot of traffic in front.”

But there were special moments, too. Like Domi, the slick forward and son of former Maple Leaf Tie Domi, setting up defenceman Josh Morrissey for the first goal early in the second period.

Or watching undersized Russian forward Vladimir Tkachev of the Moncton Wildcats — the guy the Edmonton Oilers unsuccessfully tried to sign at training camp — set up Sergei Tolchinski to tie the game.

Or Domi springing linemate Anthony Duclair on a rush, with Sorokin at first over-committing on the wraparound and then getting back just in time to rob the Canadian forward of what would have been the second-period go-ahead goal.

For Maple Leaf fans, Frederik Gauthier — the team’s first-round pick in 2013 — played a solid game, centering the third line, showing flashes of speed and playing a heavy forecheck.

“It was surprising at the beginning of the game, there were so many people cheering for you, so that’s really nice,” said Gauthier. “It’s where I want to play so it was awesome.”

“I thought they had a good game,” Groulx said of Gauthier’s line of Jake Virtanen and Lawson Crouse. “They skated well, they had chances, they were good on the forecheck. I’m happy with them.”

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It was also a first look at Russian defenceman Rinat Valiev at the ACC, a Leaf pick from this past draft.

The exhibition games are more about putting a team together rather than wins and losses. It’s about building chemistry, finding what works and what doesn’t.

“That was my first game in this big rink, it was pretty exciting,” said Valiev, who plays for the Kootenay Ice. “I’m trying to keep up my game, going to the next level. Play hard. Will see how it goes.”

The players were introduced to polite applause but, by the end, the nearly full Air Canada Centre crowd was doing the wave and chanting “Let’s Go Canada.”

When the anthems played — Russia’s first, then Canada’s with that giant flag unfurled — it couldn’t help but bring back memories.

“Henderson has scored for Canada!” if you’re old enough. They even showed that on the big screen at the first intermission.

“Gretzky to Lemieux, he scores!” for a younger generation.

By the end of the first period — scoreless but with Canada leading 14-7 in shots — both teams were fully engaged with something just short of a fight as time expired. Canadian defenceman Darnell Nurse and Russian forward Vladislav Kamenev ended up getting called for roughing.

As the game progressed, it was all about Sorokin, evoking memories of former Russian star goaltender Vladislav Tretiak. Sorokin faced 52 shots through three periods to keep the game tied and force overtime. The winning goal would be controversial, if the game mattered. Russia appeared to have too many men on the ice for the 4-on-4 overtime, but the officials didn’t catch it.

Canada head scout Ryan Jankowski likes what he’s seen so far.

“We have a lot of good character kids,” said Jankowski. “We’ve got good speed. We’ve got a good blend of size and skill. It’s a nice, well-balanced group.”

NOTES: Canadaian scratches Curtis Lazar, just released from the Ottawa Senators, and 17-year-old phenom Connor McDavid — got the loudest cheers from the ACC crowd when their names were announced . . . No Canadians wore a C or an A on Friday night. ... Canada’s next game is Sunday in Ottawa against Sweden.

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