Euro Hockey Challenge. Russia - Norway - 4:1

The second match of the Euro Hockey Challenge against Norway took place in Saint Petersburg. Head coach Oleg Znarok made a few squad changes: Igor Ustinsky was between the pipes, Igor Shestyorkin was his back-up, and Pavel Buchnevich was included in the fourth line.

Unfortunately, just like on Friday, Norway were the fastest out of the blocks. Thomas Olsen burst through the Russian back line, and calmly backhanded between Igor Ustinsky’s pads. That silenced the Yubileyny Arena, and it took a while for our players to regain their confidence. The Norwegians were tight defensively, and Russia were restricted to a limited amount of openings. Vladimir Galuzin wristed wide of the right corner, and Daniil Apalkov poked into the goalkeeper’s chest on the doorstep.

Russia needed a lift, and a quick goal in the second frame did the trick. Vladislav Kartaev split the away defence, and beautifully wristed over Lars Haugen’s blocker. That was a goal to savour, and it flattened the Norwegians. They were getting into serious penalty trouble, and Russia took their first lead on the powerplay – Sergei Shumakov took aim from the left wing, and the puck slipped beyond the unsighted goalkeeper. Our players were piling on the pressure, and half way through the period we netted a third. Yaroslav Dyblenko peeled in from the right, wristed, and hit the jackpot.

Our team continued in the same vein in the third period, and scored a prompt fourth. Norway coughed up possession in their own zone, gifted the puck to Artyom Lukoyanov, and his ensuing wrist shot powered into the right corner. However, despite the Yubileyny Arena cheering on our players, we took our foot off the gas as time ran down. The Norwegians were having more joy in our end, and Igor Ustinsky made a few superb saves at point blank range. For all of their efforts Norway failed to find a second, and Russia calmly saw the game out to win 4:1!

Match protocol

Russia – Norway – 4:1 (0:1, 3:0, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Olsen, 02.09

1:1 Kartaev (Karpov), 23.18

2:1 Shumakov (Menshikov), 24.44

3:1 Dyblenko, 31.19

4:1 Lukoyanov, 46.15

Goalkeepers: Ustinsky – Haugen

Shots on target: 38 – 25

Penalty minutes: 6 – 24

Faceoffs: 32 - 12 

10.04.2016. Yubileyny Arena, Saint Petersburg.  

Russian Ice Hockey Federation