Friendly match. Russia U18 - Atlanty - 5:3

In Novogorsk, the under 18 Russian national team played Atlanty in an exhibition game.

Ruslan Iskhakov, Sergei Alexandrov, Grigory Denisenko, Nikita Rozhkov and Vladislav Mikhaylov scored the goals which made sure that Russia U18 got a 5:3 victory!

Russia U18 head coach Alexander Zybin:

- Atlanty have some players which are older than ours, we needed to see how prepared we are at this moment in time. We worked over our tactics. For the first half of the match, we stuck to our game plan. However, when we started playing more individually, problems began to arise. The conceded goals arrived because of our defensemen's poor mistakes. We only spent a few days in Novogorsk, we started training two days ago. Some guys had played around ten matches already this season, whereas other had only competed in eight or less games. Around nine players are here from the previous training camp, but we have a lot of newbies here. When some of them tried on the Red Machine shirts, they got a bit nervous. Nevertheless, the nerves should go after the first game. Soon, we will play a game against the Czech Republic. I think that the players remember the defeat against them at the Ivan Hlinka memorial tournament. 

Russia U18 defenseman Danila Galenyuk:

- I was captain today, and while I like wearing the C, I felt the responsibility on my shoulders. For some of the players today, it was their debut. I told them not to worry and to show what you're capable of.

Today, we could have played better. We conceded goals because we took penalties at the start of the match. It was the first game, some of us were nervous. 

Russia U18 goalkeeper Daniil Isaev:

- I know a lot of the guys from different teams, it was nice to see them. Having not started training long ago, the coaches have only just started putting us into our lines. Nevertheless, we have good mutual understanding. The team played well against Atlanty and scored a lot of goals. I conceded two goals at the start, but then I improved.

Russia U18 forward Nikita Rozhkov:

- It's really nice to be in the national team. I like the players, coaches and the mindset here. You have to quickly understand what the coaches demand from you. There is huge responsibility. We have been working on our mutual understanding in training, we worked on specific plays. We want to win the three matches against the Czech Republic.

Russia U18 line-up:

Miftakhov (Isaev);

Malyshev, Galenyuk - Denisenko, Rozhkov, Iskhakov;

Gabdrakhmanov, Semykin - Kizimov, Garaev, Kruglov;

Valitov, Komarov - Dyadenkin, Sorkin, Alexandrov;

Poroshin, Sitdikov - Astashevsky, Mikhaylov, R. Badanin.

Match protocol:

Russia U18 - Atlanty - 5:3 (1:0, 1:2, 3:1)

Goals:

1:0 Iskhakov (Semyakin), 14.08

1:1 Pravilo, 32.50

2:1 Alexandrov (Dyadenkin, Sorkin), 33.35

2:2 Prus (Shakirov), 37.08

3:2 Denisenko (Iskhakov), 41.03

3:3 Ostrovsky (Vaschuk, Prus), 42.14

4:3 Rozhkov (Galenyuk, Malyshev), 46.09

5:3 Mikhaylov (R. Badanin), 48.25

Goalkeepers: Miftakhov/Isaev - Kamenin/Shugaev

Penalty minutes: 37 - 32

07.10.2017.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation