In the quarter finals, the Russian hockey players were to meet with the Finnish national team. The final score was 3: 1 in favor of the Finns, and the Russian team lost the chance to fight for the Olympic medals.
After a successful victory over the Norwegian national team, Russian hockey players had to fight the Finns. Unfortunately, the game did not work out, and the Russian team was eliminated from the fight for the Olympic medals. The Finnish national team won with a score of 3: 1.
Several factors influenced the defeat of the Russian team. First, the athletes had little time to recover between matches. Thus, the game with the Finns began less than 22 hours after the victory over the Norwegians. But in this case, claims can be made against the organizers. Secondly, the hockey players of the national team did not play at all with each other, moreover, there were completely unnecessary deletions. Third, the athletes failed to realize their numerical advantage, although there was such an opportunity.
The first period began rather cautiously, until a shot was made on goal (in the third minute of the game), however, the Finnish defenders did not let it finish. As a result, a skirmish arose at the gate, and our players lost their nerves. Result - Kovalchuk was sent off for two minutes. The fans expected a quiet and calm game. However, already in the middle of the first period the score was 1: 1. The Russians were able to score the only goal during the game only in the first period.
The defense of the Russian team was also not all right, by the end of the first period one more puck was in our goal. Throughout the second period, Russian players actively tried to take the game into their own hands, but in vain. In addition, in the zone of other people's gates, our hockey players allowed themselves liberties, as a result of another removal. This time Ovechkin went to the penalty bench, and the Finns took advantage of the moment, and the score was 3: 1.
The replacement of the goalkeeper did not help the Russian hockey players either: Bobrovsky replaced Varlamov. After the third successfully scored puck, the Finns began to play only at their own goal. Despite the fact that the game took place in the opponent's zone for almost the entire third period, the Russians did not manage to score a goal. It was already evident that the hockey players resigned themselves to defeat and mentally "packed their bags." The result was not long in coming - the Russian hockey team leaves the Olympic Games in Sochi.
