Askarov earns shutout as Russia takes down Sweden

Despite having some of the top offensive players in the tournament, Sweden couldn't find a way to penetrate the strong 22-save effort by Yaroslav Askarov in the Russian net as Russia would take the 3-0 shutout win to finish their round-robin schedule at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

The Swedes looked tired off the bat, having to play at 7:00 PM the night before, while Russia played in the early 12:00 PM game on Monday. It was evident early when at 2:05, Ivan Didkovski used his explosive speed to blow past William Eriksson in Sweden's zone before quickly switching from backhand to forehand to chip the puck over Calle Clang for the 1-0 goal.

Sweden, with all their stars, struggled to generate much offense. Instead, Pavel Tyutnev would make it 2-0 for the Russians after poking the puck away from Axel Kumlin in the neutral zone, coming in on a partial break before pulling off the same move as Didkovski, this time doubling up Russia's advantage. 

The day would get worse for Sweden. At 10:23, Vasili Ponomaryov did a beautiful job of outworking Elias Stenman to the puck. Ponomaryov would then find Daniil Gushchin in front, with Gushchin quickly sending it past Clang to make it 3-0. Zion Nybeck would get a chance shortly after to put Sweden on the board, but Russia had their number from start to finish to take the 3-0 victory on Tuesday.

With the win, Russia will take over first place for the time being in Group B. Finland, however, can take first with a regulation win over Canada Red later in the day. If Canada Red wins in regulation, then Russia would have the first-place tiebreaker.

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