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Sweden ends Russia’s Junior Worlds unbeaten run
Published: 01 January, 2012, 13:33
Russian defender Nikita Nesterov and keeper Andrey Vasilevsy protect their goals from Ludvig Rensfeldt of Sweden. (RIA Novosti / Elena Rusko)
TAGS: Hockey, Russia's hockey squad
Defending champions, Russia, have suffered their first loss at the Under-20 World Ice Hockey Championships in Canada, going down to Sweden 4-3 in overtime.
The Russians led 3-0 entering the third period, but Sweden turned the game upside down in the final period.
The regular time ended at 3-3, with the game going to overtime, in which Joakim Nordstrom’s effort gave the victory to the Scandinavians.
The replay was needed to make sure the puck hit the net of Russian keeper, Andrey Vasilevsky, who once again put up a great performance, making 51 saves.
"I didn't know that for sure," Nordstrom told NHL.com. "I was just waiting for the call. Of course (it was) a big relief … now game-winning goal. I didn't know where it hit me. I knew it hit my stick, but I didn't know if I was over the crossbar or not. That puck took us straight to the semifinal now."
Russia finished the preliminaries second behind Sweden and missed on the chance to make it straight to the semis. Valery Bragin’s men would now face the Czech Republic in the quarterfinal match.
Meanwhile, hosts Canada topped the Group B after beating their American neighbors 3-2.
30.12.2011, 13:04
Russian juniors get 14 goals past LatviaTeam Russia have collected their third win at the Under-20 World Ice Hockey Championships in Canada, tearing their Latvian opponents apart with a 14-0 scoreline. |
02.01, 13:47
1 comment
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Just caught the Russia-Czech quarter-final game on TV. It has ended with Russia winning 2-1 in OT, and what a great game it was. What makes the junior tournament so entertaining is that the players are old enough to have developed great physical speed and skill, but are still not old and experienced enough to have learned any of the suffocating systems employed by coaches in the pro-leagues. It makes for a wide-open, exciting brand of hockey.