World Junior Championship. USA U20 - Russia U20
Today on the 4th of January, the under 20 Russian national team will compete in the 2017 World Junior Championship semi-finals against the USA.
On Monday evening, Russia arrived in Montreal from Toronto in preparation for this match. The players trained in these following lines:
Goalkeepers: Samsonov, Krasotkin;
Reds: Sidorov, Rykov - Polunin, Vorobyov, Kaprizov.
Blues: Kudako, Sergachyov - Guryanov, Kvartalnov, Karnaukhov.
Blacks: Dronov - Urakov, Belyaev, Trenin.
Whites: Zborovsky, Voronkov - Alexeev, Yurtaykin.
These two teams met in the group stages, with the Americans taking a hard fought 3:2 victory. Nevertheless, in recent years, Russia have always had the upper hand over America in the crunch World Championship games. Indeed, Russia beat America in the 2014 and 2015 quarter-finals 5:3 and 3:2 respectively, and last year, the players knocked the USA out in the semi-finals 2:1.
Our team thrashed Denmark 4:0 to advance to this stage, while America got the better of Switzerland 3:2 in a tight encounter. Russian forward Kirill Kaprizov, who boasts ten points (7+3), is the tournament's second top scorer. The USA's Clayton Keller is just behind on eight (3+5).
The USA U20 - Russia U20 match will begin at 23:00 Moscow time in Toronto, Canada. Match TV will broadcast live in Russia, while you can follow events on our official Twitter account.
Russian Ice Hockey Federation