2021 World Junior Championship. Bronze medal match. Finland U20 - Russia U20

The junior Russian national team will face Finland in the bronze medal match of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton, Canada.

In Group B, Russia finished in second place by beating the USA (5:3), Austria (7:1) and Sweden (4:3 OT), while losing the one game to the Czech Republic by a score of 0:2. In the quarter-finals, our players were given a really tough test by a gritty German team, however goals from Vasily Ponomaryov - shorthanded - and Danil Bashkirov were enough to secure progression with a slender 2:1 triumph.

Nevertheless, in the semi-final against Canada, the Russians came up short 0:5.

In Group A, the Finns defeated Germany (5:3), Switzerland (4:1) and Slovakia (6:0), before losing 1:4 to Canada. Finland subsequently managed to see off Sweden 3:2 in the quarter-finals, but they came up short against the US (3:4) in a close semi-final yesterday.

"The disallowed goal against Canada? That marker would have given us a breath of fresh air, said Russian head coach Igor Larionov after losing to Canada. "However, the rules are the rules. Yes, we came here for the gold, but we now have to prepare for the bronze medal match against Finland."

Puck-drop against Finland is scheduled for 01:30 Moscow time. Channel One will provide a live television broadcast in Russia.