Russia Shuts Out Slovakia to End 2016

Russia finished off hockey action in 2016 with a 2-0 victory over Slovakia on New Years Eve.

The first period saw neither team record a goal, with the Russians taking the 9-5 advantage in shots after 20 minutes. Russia did, however, get the puck past Matej Tomek, but a quick review would overturn the call. Near the midway point of the period, Kirill Kaprizov batted in a flying puck near the crease, but his stick was well over the crossbar and the goal was waved off.

The Slovaks took a toll in the game with two players going down after hard hits. The first one was Oliver Pataky, who was taken out just minutes into the game and missed the rest of the first period but would return for the second. Then, near the end of the second, Milos Roman was a recipient of a blindside hit in the neutral zone, missing the end of the second period as a result.

The Russians would eventually find the back of the net first. At 29:06, Dallas Stars prospect Denis Guryanov pinched in the zone and knocked in the puck on the rebound, giving the team in red the advantage heading into the final period of play.

With 10:21 left in the year, the Russians took the 2-0 advantage off of a poor defensive effort. Dimitri Urakov made a pass behind the goal line to Yakov Trenin, who was standing in all by himself in front of the Slovakian net. Trenin fired home the easy shot, beating Tomek’s blocker side for the 2-0 lead. The Slovaks had nothing to offer Russia at the other end, as Ilya Samsonov would hold on to the 2-0 shutout to give Russia the final victory of the preliminary round.

With the win, Russia will meet up with Denmark in a quarter-final match-up in Toronto, while USA will meet up with Switzerland in the other Air Canada Centre contest.

Follow me on Twitter, @StevenEllisNHL.

Photo from Steven Ellis/EuroHockey.com

Tweets by @eurohockey