World Championship. Russia - Sweden - 4:1

The Russian national team concluded their 2016 World Championship campaign with a match-up against Sweden. Sergei Bobrovsky was reinstated in net for this game, and Sergei Shirokov took Alexander Burmistrov’s place in the first line.

All Russia had to do in order to guarantee second spot in the group was to register at least a point, and our players began with serious motivation. Sweden weren’t ready for such an early onslaught, and Vadim Shipachyov should have opened the scoring – with the goal gaping, he could only fire into the netminder’s glove. Sweden’s back line was looking wobbly, and after a few more missed opportunities, we eventually made the breakthrough. We strode into Sweden’s zone, Evgeny Dadonov took aim, and his miscued shot trickled over Jacob Markstrom’s left pad. The Ice Palace was delighted about that, and three minutes later the fans were on their feet again – Artemiy Panarin was left open on the left faceoff circle, and he lashed home.

At the start of the second stanza, there was a moment’s panic – Evgeny Kuznetsov went down in real pain, however after receiving treatment, he was fine to carry on. Russia were in the mood for continuing in the same vein, and we made it three not long into the period – the puck dropped back for Pavel Datsyuk at the high slot, and he rifled it beyond the desperate goalkeeper. The Swedes were in shock, and we dug the knife in deeper. Sergei Mozyakin took up a broken play, fed Roman Lyubimov on the doorstep, and the latter didn’t disappoint. Sweden were all over the place, and had it not been for Jacob Markstrom, we would have had plenty more.

Unfortunately, Sweden struck back immediately in the third frame. On a powerplay Mattias Ekholm wound up, and his cannon crashed over Sergei Bobrovsky’s glove. After that action packed second period our team looked a little flat, and we had to rely on a few big saves to keep our healthy advantage intact. Nevertheless, as time began to run down we did regain a measure of control, and Anton Belov came close with a bullet from the blue line. That was the real last action of note, and Russia have taken a vital 4:1 victory against Sweden! The next game will take place on Thursday against Germany in the quarter-final.

Match protocol:

Russia – Sweden – 4:1 (2:0, 2:0, 0:1)

Goals:

1:0 Dadonov (Panarin, Shipachyov), 14.43

2:0 Panarin (Shipachyov, Marchenko), 17.52

3:0 Datsyuk (Zaitsev), 21.34

4:0 Lyubimov (Mozyakin, Datsyuk), 29.40

4:1 Ekholm (Larsson, Wennberg), 41.06

Goalkeepers: Bobrovsky – Markstrom

Shots on target: 40 – 37

Penalty minutes: 4 – 8

17.05.2016. Ice Palace, Moscow.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation