Sweden U20 - Russia U20 - 1:2 OT

The under 20 Russian national team played Sweden in the 2017 World Junior Championship bronze medal match. Head coach Valery Bragin kept the team largely the same, not wanting to make any radical changes before the tournament's final game. Ilya Samsonov and Felix Sandstrom were the starting goaltenders.

Still tired after yesterday's disappointing semi-final against the USA, Russia had a hard job getting into this match. Sweden were the more lively, outshooting the Russians 15-3 in the first period. Nevertheless, there was one man who was getting in their way time and time again - Ilya Samsonov. The Metallurg Magnitogorsk goaltender seemed to have shaken off yesterday's loss, pulling off some tough early saves. Joel Eriksson Ek came the closest to breaking the deadlock, firing wide at point blank range.

Despite Sweden's dominance, it was Russia who struck first. Seconds into the opening frame, Kirill Kaprizov powered to the crease, squeezing his own rebound under the goalkeeper's body. All of a sudden, our players were full of confidence, skating with a lot more freedom. Denis Guryanov had a golden opportunity to double the advantage, but open on the doorstep, he fanned on a clever Pavel Karnaukhov feed. Unfortunately, that miss was punished immediately. Yegor Rykov's poor clearance was charged down by Jonathan Dahlen, who tapped beyond the helpless Ilya Samsonov.

It was set up to be a tight, tense third period. Unlike earlier on, Russia began the stronger, with Denis Guryanov smacking the crossbar after wristing from distance. As time rolled on, Sweden slowly took control again, forcing Ilya Samsonov into some amazing saves. Ilya's 38 stops took the game to overtime, where our players would come good. Taking advantage of a sloppy Sweden turnover, Denis Guryanov strode clean through, expertly backhanding between the pads. 2:1, Russia take bronze at the 2017 World Junior Championship!

Match protocol:

Sweden U20 - Russia U20 - 1:2 OT (0:0, 1:1, 0:0, 0:1)

Goals:

0:1 Kaprizov (Vorobyov, Rykov), 20.16

1:1 Dahlen, 30.11

1:2 Guryanov, 60.33

Goalkeepers: Sandstrom - Samsonov 

Shots on target: 39 - 26 

Penalty minutes: 4 - 6 

05.01.2017. Montreal, Canada.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation