It’s not all been good news for the Russians, though. An injury to Sergei Mozyakin, crudely slew-footed by Germany’s Patrick Hager early in a 6-3 win, has ruled Magnitogorsk’s record-breaking forward out of the rest of the competition. His place is taken by CSKA’s Valery Nichushkin, with further reinforcements arriving from the NHL in the form of one-time Traktor prodigy Evgeny Kuznetsov and Metallurg Novokuznetsk graduate Dmitry Orlov. KHL interest goes beyond Russia, though. Not surprisingly, Latvia’s roster draws heavily on players from our league and the Baltic nation is looking good for a quarter-final spot for the first time since 2009. Under the guidance of new head coach Bob Hartley, the Latvians can clinch a top-four finish with victory over Germany in Tuesday’s final group game. Last week, Dinamo Riga’s Miks Indrasis told us more about how Latvia is changing its approach in search of success at this year’s competition.
Miks Indrasis
Even the mighty Canadians have recruited from the KHL this time. Metallurg Magnitogorsk D-man Chris Lee became only the second KHL player to wear the Maple Leaf at an IIHF World Championship when he suited up in Canada’s 3-2 victory over France on Thursday. Lee contributed an assist as the defending champion subdued a lively host nation in Paris. With Canada currently on top of Group B, there’s every chance Lee will find himself up against his Metallurg head coach Ilya Vorobyov when the medal games come around – Vorobyov is part of Znarok’s coaching team.
For the first time ever, the World Championship has seen goals from China. While the People’s Republic is still some way from icing a competitive team – China’s national program competes in Division IIA – players from Kunlun Red Star have made an impact in Paris. France’s Damien Fleury became the first Kunlun player to score in an IIHF tournament as he helped his team to an historic 5-1 victory over Finland. Fluery is currently on 3+2 for les Bleus. Later, Tomi Sallinen, a late call-up for the Finns, scored on his first appearance for the Lejionat, helping to clinch a 5-2 victory over Slovenia. The Finns have also given ice time to Harri Sateri and Miro Aaltonen, bringing a rare Vityaz presence to the world stage.
Fleury isn’t the only KHL player helping the French.Stephane Da Costa, of CSKA Moscow, has banged in six goals for the co-host, although his contribution won’t be enough to see the French make it to the knock-out stages.
It’s not all been a success story, though. Belarus, with a roster dominated by Dinamo Minsk men, has had an unhappy tournament. Expected to be a contender for a QF berth, the Belarusians instead were dragged into a relegation showdown. A 5-2 victory over Slovenia on Saturday, powered by two goals from Dinamo’s Alexander Pavlovich and a three-point contribution from clubmate Ilya Shinkevich, should be enough to save Dave Lewis’ team but the tournament will not be fondly remembered in Minsk.
Similarly, Slovakia has struggled. Nine World Championship rookies, including Avtomobilist D-man Michal Cajkovsky, have found it tough in Group A. The decision to invite many of the country’s Slovan Bratislava contingent to switch to Banska Bystrica in Slovakia’s Extra Liga was intended to ensure game time after Slovan’s season ended in February. But it hasn’t done much to enhance Slovakia’s progress as an overtime win over Italy proved to be the country’s sole success in Cologne so far. Similarly, Slovenia – with KHLers Jan Mursak (CSKA), Robert Sabolic (Admiral), Jiga Jeglic (Torpedo) and Rok Ticar (Avtomobilist) – has also found life tough. With one game to play, the team has just one point and is facing relegation to Division IA.
Russia 3 Czech Republic 0
After Tuesday's defeat against the USA, Russia was forced to travel from Cologne to Paris for its quarter-final match-up. The team also went with a warning: any repeat of the errors that beset its game against the Americans could mean an abrupt end to the 2017 campaign. Instead, though, the team responded strongly, posting its fourth shut-out in eight games and leaving the Czechs well beaten. Goals from Dmitry Orlov, Nikita Kucherov and the tournament's leading scorer Artemy Panarin ensured that Russia shone brightly in the City of Light, while goalie Andrei Vasilevski had 27 saves to collect his third shut-out of the tournament. However, the win came accompanied with another warning as Russia had to kill five minor penalties over the 60 minutes - a problem in previous games that has yet to be ironed out.
"Our penalty killers were key," said Lokomotiv Yaroslavl's Vladislav Gavrikov. "They were excellent and so was our goalie. That was the difference.
"But it was a tough game, and we can't take so many penalties and expect to win every time."
Russia took the lead in the ninth minute with Orlov's first World Championship goal. The D-man collected a Sergei Plotnikov pass on the blue line and saw a chance to advance before unleashing a shot over the glove from the high slot to beat Traktor goalie Pavel Francouz.
And that lead increased on the power play after Vityaz defenseman Jakub Jerabek sat out an interference minor. Kucherov, who was on the receiving end of Jerabek's foul, took revenge with his sixth goal of the tournament after Evgeny Kuznetsov sped round the back of Francouz' net and served up an inviting pass for Kucherov to strike with a one-timer. But it wasn't the perfect start for Russia; an injury saw Vladislav Namestnikov limp out of the game early on, and the Czechs also had their chances. Russia's penalty problems contributed to the team falling behind 13-8 on the shot count, while Andrei Vasilevsky was relieved to see a Jakub Voracek effort rebound off the post to safety late in the stanza.
However, Russia's defense was tighter all over the ice in this game. A second-period Czech power play told the story; solid forechecking meant that much of the two minutes was spent closer to Francouz' net than Vasilevsky's. There was a strong sense that after wresting control of the game in the opening stanza, the Russians were not about to give it up. The Czech offense, featuring familiar names such as Jan Kovar (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Vladimir Sobotka (until recently Avangard) and Roman Cervenka (a Gagarin Cup-winner with SKA in 2015), was struggling to get a good look at Vasilevsky's net and find a path back into the game.
Namestnikov returned to the bench for the third period, and Russia began to generate more offense as the Czech's hopes faded. Artyom Zub played in Sergei Andronov, but the CSKA man was denied from close range by Francouz. Then Anton Belov sent Panarin on a one-on-one break, but the Czech again had the edge. The third goal came in the 54th minute as Russia unpicked a Czech attack and stormed down the ice. Kucherov and Panarin led the rush, and the latter fired the puck home to take his individual tally to 4+10=14 points.
Russia now returns to Koln for Saturday's semi-final against the winner of tonight's Canada - Germany clash.
Russia 2 Canada 4 It felt like a long time since Russia got the better of its greatest hockey foe … and after a memorable encounter, absorbing for the neutral, it will feel even longer for the raucous Russian support that flocked to Cologne for this World Championship semi-final. Second-period goals from Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nikita Gusev gave the Red Machine a 2-0 lead and, with Canada looking oddly disjointed, victory seemed well within reach. But it all went wrong. Canada got a goal back early in the third and powered to victory on three goals in the last five minutes. After the game, the faces of Russia’s players told the story more eloquently than the words of the few who paused in the mixed zone. Shock and misery was carved deeply into the features of a team that knew how close it had come to a famous victory. Answers, delivered sotto voce, tended to begin “I don’t know ...”, “I can’t say ...”
Sergei Andronov summed up the mood. “We know we blew a big chance,” he said. “It hurts. It hurts for us and it hurts for the fans who have been crazy here.”
The first period was cagey; two heavyweights prowling the ring, eyeing up the opposition, looking for a chink in the armor. But rather than scoring chances, it was big hits that got the crowd excited, with CSKA’s Andronov singled out for some particular attention from Travis Konecny and Brayden Schenn.
Perhaps most importantly, though, Russia did not take a single penalty in the opening stanza. Aside from denying Canada’s imposing power play a chance to strut its stuff, this also underpinned an enhanced level of discipline from Oleg Znarok’s team after spending too long in the box for comfort in recent games. This time, though, it was Canada that picked up the unnecessary indiscretions and played itself into trouble.
Gradually, discipline began to deliver. If the previous meeting between this two nations, in Prague in the 2015 final, was characterized by the Canadian offense slicing through Russia’s back line, here the reverse was true. Once the Russian passing game got into gear, the impact was devastating. First it was the team’s NHL combination – Nikita Kucherov to Artemy Panarin, then on to Evgeny Kuznetsov all alone on Calvin Pickard’s doorstep with plenty of time to tap into an empty net in the 33rd minute.
Russia - Canada
Canada, rattled, took another penalty and duly paid the price. This time it was something of an old-SKA reunion; former Petersburg favorite Panarin switching play for Vadim Shipachyov, who duly fed Nikita Gusev. Panarin’s replacement at SKA didn’t make the cleanest of contact with his shot, but did enough to force it past Pickard and double Russia’s lead. Then it all went wrong for Russia. Seconds into the final stanza, Mark Scheifele got a goal back for the Canadians. A seemingly comfortable path to victory was at once strewn with obstacles. Russia ran into penalty trouble – an abrupt reversal from the second period – and gradually Canada’s pressure told. Nate MacKinnon tied the game with five to play, capitalizing after Vladimir Tkachyov missed his chance to move the puck to safety and sudden Russia was looking at a result that would be memorable for all the wrong reasons. A couple of minutes later and it was 3-2 Canada. Ryan O’Reilly claimed the game winner, snaffling a rebound after his initial shot was blocked by Ivan Provorov. Russia’s dream was in tatters, and Sean Couturier read the last rites with an empty netter to make it 2-4.
Jubilant Canadian head coach Jon Cooper hailed it as “one of the greatest hockey games I’ve ever been involved in” and spoke warmly of Russia’s performance. But for Russia’s Oleg Znarok, reflecting on his third international loss against Canada, there was little to say. “I’ve no complaints about my guys,” he commented. “They battled from the first minute to the last but the luck didn’t go with us. That’s sport.”
Russia overcame Finland with a three-goal blitz early in the second period, ensuring it continued its run of World Championship medals with bronze in Koln.
Russia 5 Finland 3
After the disappointment of semi-final defeat, Russia bounced back to claim a bronze medal and make it four years in a row on the World Championship podium under Oleg Znarok’s coaching.The two teams had suffered contrasting semi-final losses the day before. Russia, agonizingly, blew a winning position against Canada; Finland, somewhat tamely, succumbed to Sweden. But the reaction to those losses was also telling. While the Russians left the ice shell-shocked, the Finns were more phlegmatic about their game. If pain and frustration was destined to be a motivator here, Russia had the edge. So it proved. Finland showed some fight early on, but Russia raised its game and ultimately steamrollered its northern neighbor, paced by two goals from Nikita Gusev.
The SKA youngster, playing at his first senior World Championship, has acquitted himself well at this level and his double strike in the bronze-medal game took him to six goals for the competition. His first, a venomous slap shot from the right circle, flew past Joonas Korpisalo while Sergei Andronov threw up the screen. In the second period he got another, wrapping up another strong power play with assists from Artemy Panarin and Evgeny Dadonov after Russia’s passing play unpicked the Finnish defense. In between there was a short-handed goal for another of Russia’s emerging talents, Vladimir Tkachyov. The Ak Bars man notched for the first time in the tournament, converting Valery Nichushkin’s surge down the right boards. And, after a tournament in which – once again – Russia’s defense has come under criticism after losses against Canada and the USA, CSKA’s Bogdan Kiselevich sent a reminder that all is not beyond redemption on the blue line when he grabbed his third of the tournament. His shot off a Nichushkin feed was helped by an error from Korpisalo, but had enough to make it 4-0 and bring Vityaz goalie Harri Sateri to the Finnish crease. Kiselevich has also won plaudits for his defensive work in Germany: up until Saturday’s semi-final, none of Russia’s opponents had scored while he was on the ice.
Kiselevich himself rated his first World Championship experience as a qualified success. “As a whole, the tournament made a great impression on me,” he said. “Playing at this kind of level in every game was good. You can never let up, you have to play hard for the full 60 minutes. That was what cost us yesterday, so today we were determined to put it right.
“But to be honest it was a bit disappointing because yesterday we defeated ourselves, we weren't beaten by the opposition. We didn't get to play for gold, but we came away with a bronze.”
Briefly, there was a danger that history might repeat itself. The Finns got on the board in the dying seconds of the middle stanza through Mikko Rantanen, and added a second early in the final session when Mikko Lehtonen’s long-range wrister slipped under Andrei Vasilevsky’s glove. After blowing a lead 24 hours earlier, surely Russia couldn’t fail again?
Russia - Finland
The unthinkable became alarmingly plausible, though, when Veli-Matti Savinainen made it a one-goal game with 14 minutes left. The former Ugra and Torpedo forward enjoyed some good fortune as his shot deflected off Anton Belov and just evaded Vasilevsky’s blocker. Russia called a time-out, and Oleg Znarok found the words to inspire his team. Soon afterwards Evgeny Kuznetsov’s pass sliced the Finnish defense apart and released Nikita Kucherov. His first shot was saved by Sateri, but the Tampa Bay forward beat Joonas Jarvinen to the rebound and slid it into the empty net to make it 5-3 and restore some calm.
“We could have got nervous because there was still a lot of time remaining, but we stayed calm, the guys on the bench kept us calm,” Kucherov said. “We stayed confident, Vasilevsky did great and we didn't take too many penalties.”
When asked why Russia seemed to struggle in its third periods during the championship, Kucherov would not be drawn. “Guys, we won today!” he smiled.
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