World Championship. Russia - Norway - 3:0

The Russian national team took on Norway for the sixth group game of the 2016 IIHF World Championship group stage. Head coach Oleg Znarok opted to give Ilya Sorokin a start in this one, and young Igor Shestyorkin was his back-up. Dmitry Orlov was the lone defenseman in the fourth line.

Both teams looked to counter against each other early on inside the Ice Palace, and Ilya Sorokin made a big save to ease him into his full tournament debut– Mats Olsen-Rosseli cut in from the left flank, and Ilya shut the five hole to keep him out. That was Norway’s only real opportunity of the period, and Russia slowly but surely began to increase the heat. The Norwegians contrived to take three consecutives penalties, and only their goaltender Steffen Soberg knows how he kept Russia off the board – Artemiy Panarin was denied by two stunning stick saves, Alexander Ovechkin tapped wide of an empty net, and Evgeny Dadonov failed to score on the doorstep.

Our pressure had to eventually tell, and at the start of the second period, we finally made the all-important breakthrough – Sergei Kalinin cleverly played the puck across from the right, and Ivan Telegin deftly tapped beyond Steffen Soberg’s glove. That goal ignited the arena, however Norway responded well – the referees sent both Dmitry Orlov and Vyacheslav Voynov to the box, and Ilya Sorokin was forced into a few flashy glove saves. Nevertheless, we picked it up again towards the end of the frame, and we grabbed a vital second marker. Artemiy Panarin received by the right post, displayed some dazzling puck handling skills, and gently backhanded into the far corner.

Those goals had flattened Norway, and we put the match out of sight. Dmitry Orlov’s cannon crashed off the boards, and Roman Lyubimov acrobatically diverted the puck into the net. We were in the mood for more, and the chances were coming – Pavel Datsyuk couldn’t beat the goalkeeper up close, and Alexander Ovechkin had a few heavy slappers pushed away. Norway tried to force the issue as the minutes began to run down, and Ilya Sorokin had to be at his best to keep his shutout intact. That was the best that they could muster, and Russia calmly saw proceedings out to win 3:0!

Match protocol:

Russia – Norway – 3:0 (0:0, 2:0, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Telegin (Orlov, Kalinin), 22.09

2:0 Panarin (Shipachyov), 37.52

3:0 Lyubimov (Emelin, Orlov), 42.31

Goalkeepers: Sorokin – Soberg

Shots on goal: 28 – 27

Penalty minutes: 6 – 8

16.05.2016. Ice Palace, Moscow.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation