Russia U20 gets fast revenge

One day after a close 2-3 loss in the opener of the four game Canada-Russia series the home side has come back with a solid 6-3 win in Yaroslavl. Canadian head coach Steve Spott had warned his team to play hard but to avoid stupid penalties yesterday. Well, his team seemed to have overheared the good advice. In the first period both sides showed more interest in impressing the other side with hard play than with the fine art of hockey. Already within the first 20 minutes of play Canadian Mark Scheifele had to leave the ice early with a game misconduct for kneeing.

A tripping penalty at the end of the first led to another Russian power play and this time they used the opportunity after only 38 seconds of the middle period through Anton Zlobin. When Adam Pelech received a two minute interference penalty, the Russians extended their lead through Kirill Kapustin. Special teams continued to play a major role as Ty Rattie scored after 06:21 of the second in a 4-on-4. WIth six and a half minutes to go in the period Kapustin was again at the right spot - this time the Eastern Europeans were even short handed.

In the last 20 minutes both teams concentrated on their playing skills and this was good for the game as a whole. First it was Morgan Rielly who brought his team in fightning distance again before Maxim Shalunov and Kirill Kapustin (with his hat trick) ended all hopes for the Canadians. With less than five minutes to the end Ryan Strome added another Canadian goal before Maxim Shalunov made it 6-3 with an empty-netter.

With this result the Russian juniors can see towards their trip to Canada without fear.

Next games:

Game 3: Halifax (Monday, 13 August 2012, 19.00h local time)

Game 4: Halifax (Tuesday, 14 August 2012, 19.00h local time)

 

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