The senior and junior national teams have played a match against each other

In Novogorsk. a friendly match was held between the senior men's and junior Russian national teams.

Both teams had only select squads on show, and it was unsurprisngly the seniors who had the upper hand. Daniil Apalkov, Stepan Sannikov, Maxim Shalunov and Artyom Lukoyanov scored four second period goals, and the juniors could only respond with Evgeny Mityakin's marker.

The junior side got another goal back through Vasily Glotov, but that proved as good as it was going to get for them, as further goals from Vladimir Tkachyov and Dmitry Vishnevsky sealed the senior team's win.

Russian senior national team coach Harijs Vitloins:

- This game was useful for both teams. The pace was high, and all players tried their best against one another. Trainings give us a lot of information, but games are more telling. We can see how players' mutual understanding is going, how they fight against the boards, and how the defensemen join in the rush. The juniors are preparing for the Four Nations tournament, and they also needed such a physical game. Overall this was a useful match, and why look for an opponent, when you are training next to each other.

Russian junior national team head coach Valery Bragin:

- This was a very useful training game, both teams played physical. We didn't have enough time to prepare tactically. Because of this, we conceded a lot of poor goals. It was really tough to play against the senior side, as their players are trying to get into the World Championship squad. Nevertheless, our players played well together at times. We have a lot of work ahead of us, and this game was a useful experience for us.

Match protocol:

Russia - Russia U20 - 6:2 (0:0, 4:1, 2:1)

Goals:

1:0 Apalkov (Averin, Galuzin)

2:0 Sannikov

3:0 Shalunov (Sannikov)

3:1 Mityakin (Li)

4:1 Lukoyanov (Malykhin)

5:1 Tkachyov (Karpov)

5:2 Glotov

6:2 Vishnevsky (Lukoyanov)

Goalkeepers: Yeryomenko/Galimov - K. Volkov/Tsirkul

Penalty minutes: 10 - 16

04.04.2016. Novogorsk.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation