Reaction after beating Austria at the World Junior Championship

Junior national team head coach Igor Larionov, defenseman Artemiy Knyazev and forwards Arseniy Gritsyuk and Vasily Podkolzin shared their opinions with the media after Russia defeated Austria 7:1 in the third match of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Canada.

Russia U20 head coach Igor Larionov:

- We expected that this match was going to give us confidence, some of the guys who hadn't previously managed to score did tally goals. This is a big positive for us. The second period? Yes, maybe our play allowed Austria to feel that they are capable of competing with us, but we missed a lot of opportunities to score. We wanted an improvement in the third frame and we got it. The match against Sweden? We know that it's the decisive one of the group, it doesn't matter who had a longer rest. We're calmly preparing for that game.

Russia U20 defenseman Artemiy Knyazev:

- We started really well by scoring four goals. Overall, we controlled today's game, the coaches told us what went wrong in the second period and we improved in the third. The coaching staff is spending a lot of time on our powerplay during the training sessions. For my goal, I decided to shoot from the blue line, and the puck went past the goalkeeper with my teammates blocking his view.

Russia U20 forward Arseniy Gritsyuk:

- During the opening stages, we played with aggression and made our mark on the match. We were over-confident in the second period, though, so the coaches wanted an improvement in the third frame. We understand that Sweden are a stronger opponent that Austria, so we have to be ready. It will be a game for first place in the group. The powerplay will be a key component in future matches at this competition, it's good that we scored a goal on the man-advantage today. We will have a good mindset for the match with the Swedes.

Russia U20 forward Vasily Podkolzin:

- I can't say that we lost concentration in the second period, but we did start doing unnecessary things on the ice. We certainly can't afford to do that again when playing against Sweden. We don't have a lot of time to recover, but never mind, we will be prepared for the Swedes. Will my two goals give me more confidence? I hope so!