World Championship. Russia - Denmark - 10:1

The Russian national team played their fourth game of the 2016 IIHF World Championship in Moscow against Denmark. Head coach Oleg Znarok made one surprise decision for this match, with newly registered forward Stepan Sannikov being instated into the first line. Fellow forward Sergei Plotnikov stepped down to the fourth.

Everyone seemed up for this match, and immediately Russia set about making their mark on the game. Our players came flying out of the blocks, and three minutes in we had our first goal. Evgeny Dadonov tricked his way down the right flank, set it back for Alexei Marchenko, and the Detroit Red Wings defenseman found the net. That marker gave us lift off, and after some big saves made by the Denmark netminder, we grabbed our second on the powerplay – Maxim Chudinov took aim, and his rocket crashed into the right corner. Amazingly, we had our third just 21 seconds later, as Nikita Zaitsev’s wrister from distance found its way under the blocker.

Russia kept on powering forward in the second, but after Artemiy Panarin had been denied by the left post, Denmark got on the board – on a counterattack Jannik Hansen got free, and he let an unstoppable shot go over Sergei Bobrovsky’s glove. That disappointed the home crowd, however our team weren’t about to let Denmark gain hope. Sergei Mozyakin netted a quick-fire double with one timers from distance, and Sergei Shirokov scored a clever goal from the left faceoff circle. The forlorn Danes were all over the place, and with the period coming to a close, we scored an absolute beauty – Artemiy Panarin’s line pulled off a stunning tic-tac-toe play, and Evgeny Dadonov swept past the goaltender.

The Ice Palace was on its feet, and the hockey celebration continued in the third. With a man’s advantage Vadim Shipachyov tapped home off a flowing play, and Vadim then notched his second when clean through. With the game safe, Oleg Znarok made an unexpected move – with around 10 minutes left, he gave young goaltender Ilya Sorokin his World Championship debut. Just like his predecessor, Ilya was rock solid, and after a few brilliant point blank range saves, we scored our tenth on the powerplay. We knocked the puck around the zone confidently, and that man Artemiy Panarin whacked a powerful effort over the line. That completed the scoring, and in an incredible match Russia have destroyed Denmark 10:1!

Match protocol:

Russia – Denmark –  10:1 (3:0, 4:1, 3:0)

Goals:

1:0 Marchenko (Dadonov, Zaitsev), 02.38

2:0 Chudinov (Shipachyov, Panarin), 12.45

3:0 Zaitsev (Burmistrov), 13.06

3:1 Hansen (Ehlers, Eller), 29.56

4:1 Mozyakin (Datsyuk, Lyubimov), 30.43

5:1 Mozyakin (Datsyuk, Belov), 33.42

6:1 Shirokov (Voynov), 33.52

7:1 Dadonov (Shipachyov, Shipachyov), 37.37

8:1 Shipachyov (Dadonov, Panarin), 41.50

9:1 Shipachyov (Panarin, Dadonov), 44.38

10:1 Panarin (Voynov, Shipachyov), 55.31

Goalkeepers: Bobrovsky – Nielsen

Shots on target: 41 – 17

Penalty minutes: 6 – 16

12.05.2016. Ice Palace, Moscow.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation