2021 Channel One Cup. Sweden - Russia - 0:1

In a tight, tense contest, Russia edged Sweden in the second match of the 2021 Channel One Cup, holding on to claim an important 1:0 victory at the CSKA Arena.

The Swedes had the better of the first period.

In truth, they should have struck gold in the first minute of proceedings, as Gustav Rydahl could only thump the puck against Ivan Fedotov’s body at point-blank range after our goalkeeper had mistakenly expected an icing call.

On an odd-man rush, Malte Stromwall later passed up a glorious opportunity for Sweden, blasting off target with only the goaltender to beat. At the other end, the Russians’ best spell of play was witnessed during an early powerplay, with Nikita Gusev and Sergei Plotnikov coming close from inviting positions. Fedotov was the busier goaltender in the opening frame as he was forced into 10 saves in comparison to Magnus Hellberg’s seven.

The manner of the game didn’t change in the second period.

Sweden continued to play on the front foot and create the majority of the opportunities. After defensive errors, Stromwall, Rydahl and Dmytro Timashov all had clear chances for the Swedes, but Fedotov came to the rescue for the hosts with a handful of difficult stops. Towards the end of a somewhat uneventful stanza, Russia were gifted a powerplay chance to begin generating attacking traction, however Hellberg calmly dealt with the challenge in the Swedish net.

The breakthrough was eventually made in the eighth minute of the third period.

On the counter-attack, Gusev picked out the onrushing Vyacheslav Voynov with an intelligent pass, who managed to carefully slide the puck over the line with Hellberg unable to freeze it.

The rest of the match predictably saw Sweden throw everything at the Russians. Nevertheless, despite pulling Hellberg for the extra skater with more than two minutes remaining in the frame and carving open a number of excellent chances, the away team simply couldn’t find that elusive equaliser with Fedotov in unbeatable form.

Russia will now prepare to host the Czech Republic on Saturday. Puck-drop is scheduled for 15:30 local time.

Match protocol:

Sweden - Russia - 0:1 (0:0, 0:0, 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Voynov (Gusev, Tkachyov), 47.55

Goalkeepers: Hellberg - Fedotov

Shots: 58 - 58

Shots on target: 34 -26

Faceoffs: 17 - 35

Hits: 11 - 16

Blocked shots: 16 - 15

Penalty minutes: 4 - 2

Referees: Sidorenko, Gofman

16.12.2021. CSKA Arena, Moscow.