World Championship. Russia - Switzerland - 5:1

The Russian national team competed in their fifth match of the 2016 IIHF World Championship against Switzerland. The Washington Capitals Trio of Dmitry Orlov, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alexander Ovechkin, who have only just arrived from the NHL, were instated into the first line along with Alexander Burmistrov, and Anton Belov was the lone defender in the second.

Both teams were coming into this match off the back of victories, and it was a cautious start inside the Moscow Ice Palace. Predictably, it was hosts Russia who took the early initiative, and Reto Berra in the Swiss net was being called into regular action. Alexander Ovechkin was eager to make an instant impression on the tournament, and after a huge hit against a Swiss defenseman, he slapped a ferocious shot into the netminder’s pads. The pressure was slowly growing, and five minutes in we had our first goal – Ivan Telegin split the away defence in two, and buried his own rebound. That gave the stadium something to cheer about and we almost had a second. Artemiy Panarin and Vadim Shipachyov played a gorgeous give and go, and the former couldn’t give the play the finish that it deserved.

Despite having the advantage, Russia looked a little sluggish at the start of the second stanza, and the Swiss had a few promising openings by our net. We were shaky at the back, and on a couple of occasions Sergei Bobrovsky bailed the team out with superb stops. His confidence spread to the rest of the team, and eventually we got it together again. As time rolled on we were becoming more threatening inside the opposing zone, and Evgeny Kuznetsov made it two with a beauty. The Washington Capitals forward powered down the right flank, and superbly batted the flying puck into the far corner. Switzerland looked demorilised by that goal, and had it not been for Reto Berra in their net, they would have conceded a few more before the frame came to a close.

Unlike in the second, we started with real pace in the third period, and everyone inside the stadium thought that we had scored again – Vadim Shipachyov knocked the puck into an empty net on a powerplay, but after review, the referees ruled that the goal had already been knocked off its moorings. We responded well to that setback, and later on, we did net a legitimate third – Roman Lyubimov hung behind the net, found the open Ivan Telegin by the right post, and Ivan grabbed his second of the day. Our players were in the mood for turning on the style, and Sergei Shirokov buried a fourth on a goalmouth scramble. Unfortunately, there was one blotch on the scoreboard late on – on a lengthy Swiss attack, Simon Moser lashed the puck under Sergei Bobrovsky’s left pad. Nevertheless, we were still going to end the match on a high – Pavel Datsyuk teed up Sergei Mozyakin, and our number 10 wristed fantastically over the glove with 17 seconds remaining. 5:1, and Russia take a fourth win in a row at the 2016 World Championship!

Match protocol:

Russia – Switzerland – 5:1 (1:0, 1:0, 3:1)

Goals:

1:0 Telegin (Lyubimov), 05.13

2:0 Kuznetsov (Ovechkin), 28.40

3:0 Telegin (Lyubimov), 48.50

4:0 Shirokov (Zaitsev), 55.20

4:1 Moser (Weber, Niederreiter), 58.44

5:1 Mozyakin (Datsyuk, Shirokov), 59.43

Goalkeepers: Bobrovsky/Sorokin – Berra

Shots on target: 38 – 35

Penalty minutes: 6 – 26

14.05.2016. Ice Palace, Moscow.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation