Friendly match. Russia U18 - Canada U18 - 5:4

The under 18 Russian national team played their final World Championship warm-up game. Today's opponents were Canada, one of Russia's biggest rivals on the international stage. Head coach Sergei Golubovich gave Kirill Ustimenko the nod in net, keeping Maxim Zhukov on the bench.

Both teams came flying out of the blocks, with Russia leading 3:1 in the first period before Canada tied it in the second. As planned, Maxim Zhukov replaced Kirill Ustimenko between the pipes midway through the second stanza.

Russia went ahead again in the third frame, but Canada came right back. Nevertheless, our players did eventually finish their opponents off. Kirill Slepets scored the crucial goal with eight minutes remaining, sealing a 5:4 Russian victory!

Our team will now prepare for the opening World Championship game against Sweden on April 13th.

Match protocol:

Russia U18 - Canada U18 - 5:4 (3:1, 0:2, 2:1)

Goals:

1:0 Marushev (Toropchenko, Okhotyuk), 11.14

2:0 Alexeev (Bitsadze, Nikolenko), 11.56

2:1 Anderson-Dolan (Strome), 14.17

3:1 Maximov (Klisunov), 18.03

3:2 Ratcliffe (Schnarr, Mitchell), 21.07

3:3 Dellandrea (Ratcliffe), 26.15

4:3 Maximov (Marushev), 41.18

4:4 Strome (Comtois), 42.17

5:4 Slepets, 51.42

Goalkeepers: Ustimenko/Zhukov - Scott 

Shots on target: 27 - 26 

Penalty minutes: 4 - 8 

09.04.2017. Slovakia.

Russian Ice Hockey Federation