A tough win against the tournament hosts

The Russian junior national team’s second match of the World Junior Championship took place today against hosts Finland. No real changes were made by head coach Valery Bragin after the opening day win over the Czech Republic, with Alexander Georgiev still in net.

Being the tournament’s home team Finland had a full Hartwall Arena behind them, and they made a fast start. With one of the game’s first attacks a big rebound popped out to Sebastian Aho to the right of the crease, and he forced it beyond Alexander Georgiev. All the momentum was with Finland early on, but a home penalty paved the way for Russia to level. Clever build up play fed Kirill Kaprizov on the right faceoff circle, and he one timed into the net. Both teams exchanged goalscoring chances as the period wore on, and the Finns thought that they had scored a second. They bundled the puck over the line on a goalmouth scramble, but it was waved off after the referee’s whistle had already been blown. Nevertheless Finland did still get their go ahead goal, as with time running down Patrik Laine tipped in.

That goal gave Finland confidence, and seconds into the second stanza they doubled their money. With Egor Rykov in the penalty box Finland worked the puck around our crease, and Aleksei Saarela one timed home past the goaltender. Russia were up against it now, but shorthanded they got back into things. The Russians broke away with power, and on the right flank Andrei Svetlakov wristed over the goalkeeper’s glove. Finland were flattened by that marker, and on a powerplay of their own Russia made it a tied game. Pavel Kraskovsky hung behind the net, sent it across, and it deflected off a Finnish defencemen into the goal. The hosts couldn’t keep out of the box, and on another man’s advantage Vladislav Kamenev gave Russia their first lead. They weren’t willing to stop their either, and Alexander Polunin made it five when forcing home a loose puck.

Russia had the advantage coming into the third period, but Finland weren’t going to lie down easily. Seconds into the frame the hosts crashed our net, and after a long second look the referees concluded that Aleksei Saarela shot the puck over the line. The Russians were up against it, however they coped excellently with the Finnish pressure. Alexander Georgiev was having very little to do in net, and Radel Fazleev iced it with a neat wraparound into the right corner. 6:4, and Russia take their second win at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship!

Match protocol:

Russia – Finland 6:4 (1:2, 1:4, 1:1)

Goals:

First period:

0:1 Aho (Puljujarvi, Laine), 04.13

1:1 Kaprizov (Provorov, Lazarev), 06.10

1:2 Laine (Pujujarvi, Keskitalo), 18.53

Second period:

1:3 Saarela (Puljujarvi, Laine), 20.53

2:3 Svetlakov (Kroshkov, Voronkov), 28.48

3:3 Kraskovsky (Kroshkov, Zhuldikov), 32.29

4:3 Kamenev (Kaprizov, Lazarev), 35.28

5:3 Polunin (Korshkov), 36.05

Third period:

5:4 Saarela (Nattinen), 41.18

6:4 Fazleev (Provorov, Lauta), 53.48

Goalkeepers: Georgiev – Vehilainen

Shots on target: 25 - 32

Penalty minutes: 12 – 12

28.12.2015. Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland. 

Russian Ice Hockey Federation