Russians stay perfect with win over Czechs

The Russians are the first team to go 2-0 at the 2018 World Junior A Challenge in Bonnyville, Alberta, beating the Czech Republic 4-2 on Monday.

A pair of shorthanded goals would result in a tied game after a period of play. 2019 NHL draft star Vasily Podkolzin would record his third goal of the tournament at 2:13 after Ilya Nikolaev set him up rushing down the ice, beating Tomas Vomacka on a wrist shot all alone to open the scoring.

Three minutes later, the Czechs got one themselves. Matej Blumel would get credit for the first goal of the tournament for his nation after he stole the puck from the left corner from Vsevolod Skotnikov, who tried to play the puck to one of his defenders but mishandled it. Blumel would then skate in uncontested, sliding the puck over the line to tie the game up.

But the Czechs started out flat in the second, failing to record a shot in the first 10 minutes of the period and allowing the Russians to take a 3-1 lead. At 3:50, Podkolzin would make a dipsy-doodle play to get around a defenceman before feeding Artemii Kniazev at the point, with Kniazev sending a blast past Vomacka to make it 2-1. Then, just over two minutes later, the Russians got another one. This time, Takhir Mingachev would get one on the rebound after Roman Bychkov's shot hit the end boards and bounced right out, with Mingachev knocking it in to give Russia the two-goal advantage.

But the Czechs would tie it up at the 15-minute mark. Otakar Sik would force the Russians to give the puck up twice on an aggressive forecheck, but Jakub Adamek would pinch in from the point to knock the puck in to put the Czechs back on the board.

The Russians would get a backbreaking goal just 47 seconds into the third. Alexsandr Gordin would get perhaps the best goal of the tournament so far after taking the puck in the slot and deking around Jakub Muller before dancing around Vomacka, putting the Czechs back up by two. It would take any momentum the Czechs would hope to have away early in the period, as they failed to find a way to score again to allow the Russians to leave with the 4-2 win.

The Russians will get a day off on Tuesday before returning against Canada West on Wednesday. The Czechs, however, will be thrust back onto the ice tomorrow for the lone contest of the day, a 7:00 PM start against the Americans.

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