2017 World Championship. Bronze medal game. Russia - Finland - 5:3

The senior Russian national team competed in the 2017 World Championship bronze medal game against Finland. Head coach Oleg Znarok was forced into one major change, replacing the injured Vladislav Gavrikov with Andrei Mironov. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Joonas Korpisalo were the starting goaltenders.

Determined to make up for yesterday's crushing loss to Canada, the Russians made a strong start against Finland. Forced back into their own zone, the Finns conceded the first goal after just seven minutes. Nikita Gusev scored it, launching a huge slap shot under the flapping Joonas Korpisalo. Our players were buzzing around the Finnish net, refusing to let their opponents get anything going. 

Shorthanded, Russia doubled the advantage at the start of the second. Valery Nichushkin dashed down the right wing, picked out the onrushing Vladimir Tkachyov and the latter confidently slid the puck into the net. In the mood for plenty of goals, the team scored two more in a short space of time. Nikita Gusev netted a beauty on the powerplay, before Bogdan Kiselevich's long range wrister caught the goalkeeper cold. That proved to be the end of Joonas Korpisalo's night, as he was pulled in favour of Harri Sateri.

Unfortunately, that switch helped Finland get back into the game. Mikko Rantanen got Finland on the board in the dying moments of the second stanza, tapping beyond a beaten Andrei Vasilevskiy. To the Russian fans' horror, the Finns made it a 4:3 game in the third period. Mikko Lehtonen's seemingly harmless wrist shot deceived the goalkeeper, and Veli-Matti Savinainen's deflected effort trickled in. 

Nevertheless, Russia managed to ride the storm. Nikita Kucherov sealed the deal, pouncing on his own rebound to finish the match. 5:3, Russia claim 2017 World Championship bronze!

Match protocol:

Russia - Finland - 5:3 (1:0, 3:1, 1:2)

Goals:

1:0 Gusev (Antipin, Nichushkin), 06.58

2:0 Tkachyov (Nichushkin, Zub), 21.48

3:0 Gusev (Panarin, Dadonov), 27.01

4:0 Kiselevich (Namestnikov, Nichushkin), 28.16

4:1 Rantanen (Filppula), 39.33

4:2 Lehtonen (Aho), 41.16

4:3 Savinainen (Rantanen, Aho), 45.29

5:3 Kucherov (Gusev, Belov), 48.03

Goalkeepers: Vasilevskiy - Korpisalo/Sateri

Shots on target: 30 - 29

Penalty minutes: 8 - 10 

21.05.2017. Cologne, Germany.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation