Russia Eliminates Canada From Medal Contention at Channel One Cup

Canada will not win their second Channel One Cup tournament after a disappointing 2-0 loss to the Russians on Saturday afternoon.

After forty minutes of scoreless hockey, someone had to find the back of the net. Nikita Nesterov, who left the Montreal Canadiens during the off-season to join the KHL, made it 1-0 on the power play after capitalizing on a Nikita Gusev pass, beating Ben Scrivens for the 1-0 goal at 2:24 in the third. 

The goal came 20 seconds after Chris Lee had a failed clearing attempt, flicking the puck a few feet before it was stopped by a Russian attacker. The goal was a killer for Canada, who played the first half of the final frame without a shot.

There weren't a lot of shots in the game total, with the two teams tied at 12 apiece when the game hit the halfway point of the third. Canada's first shot would come with nine minutes left, but at that point, they were losing 2-0.

That's because an incredible scoring chance between Vladislav Gavrikov and Sergei Plotnikov proved to be too much for Canada. The passes kept coming, with Plotnikov tapped it in to the left of Scrivens to make it 2-0.

With the loss, Canada will fail to grab a medal at their fourth Olympic pre-tournament event of the year. Their final chance comes at the 2017 Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland in ten days, with Canada winning the past two titles. Russia, meanwhile, will play Finland tomorrow afternoon in what should be the championship game between the two countries, with Finland winning the Karjala Cup a few months ago.

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