Reaction after beating the USA at the World Junior Championship

Following the tense 5:3 triumph over the USA in the first match of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. under 20 Russian national team head coach Igor Larionov and forwards Vasily Ponomaryov, Zakhar Bardakov and Ilya Safonov all shared their emotions.

Russia U20 head coach Igor Larionov:

- It was a very difficult match. Of course, taking into account that it was our first game of the competition, we felt the nerves. Nevertheless, I still think that the guys were fantastic today, they competed as a united team and battled hard in the closing stages to secure the victory. Line changes? We want all of our lines to be creative and score goals. We're really happy for the guys who became leaders today. Our mistakes? We will analyse our errors when looking at the video. You have to remember that this is junior ice hockey; emotions play a key role. The route to the gold is through tough games in which you have to show your character and quality.

Russia U20 forward Vasily Ponomaryov:

- I wouldn't say that everything is really positive, because there are a lot of aspects which require improvement. I would say that we have made a small step towards the target which we set ourselves. You have to compete hard for the full 60 minutes. It was only the first match today of the tournament, everyone will only remember us if we win the last game. We will now prepare for the upcoming matches.

Russia U20 forward Zakhar Bardakov:

- The opening 40 minutes were under our control. We were focused for the third period too, but after taking too penalties, the concluding 10 minutes became somewhat tense. It's good that we managed to hold on and score into the empty net to seal the victory. In such matches, the main thing is discipline, you cannot start to take penalties in the closing stages of the third period.

Russia U20 forward Ilya Safonov:

- First of all, you have to play for the entire 60 minutes. We probably relaxed too early. We saw what happened today when we didn't play with concentration, so this is something which we really do have to improve. My goal? I read the play and intercepted the pass. Our mindset for the next game? There aren't any weak opponents at the World Junior Championship, we will analyse this match and prepare for the next.