Late in the evening of January 2, Moscow time, the Russian national ice hockey team played the quarterfinal match as part of the youth world championship. The rivals of the Russians were their peers from the United States.
To determine the winners in the 2015 MFM quarterfinal match, Valery Bragin's wards had to move from Toronto to Montreal. It was on the arena of the famous Montreal Canadiens club that the Russians had to overcome the resistance of one of the main favorites of the youth hockey world championship - the Americans.
The first period for the Russian national team was successful. US hockey players often broke the rules. This led to the fact that the Americans played in the minority for half the period. On the 3rd minute of the meeting, Ivan Barbashev realized the numerical advantage of two players. Russia took the lead 1: 0. Further, the Americans continued to foul again. The result was the second goal scored against the US team. Alexander Sharov in the 16th minute upset the Americans again. The puck was hammered right after the end of the next penalty time of the American hockey player.
In the second period, the Americans added significantly. Fast attacks have been played over and over again by US players. In the 33rd minute, Anthony Di Angelo closed the gap with a long-range shot. At the time of the goal, Russian hockey players were outnumbered. After that, the Americans continued to shoot a lot at Shesterkin's goal, but our goalkeeper was reliable. It is worth noting that the US hockey players "threw" the Russians three times during the second period.
The Americans started the third period actively again, but the first goal in the period flew into the gates of overseas hockey players. Sergei Tolchinsky in the 42nd minute brought the Russian national team ahead (3: 1). Then the Russians began to systematically break the rules. This was due to the high pressure of the Americans and the total playing advantage of the latter. Such activity of the US hockey team was rewarded with a second puck into our goal. At the 49th minute, Zach Warenski again reduced the gap between the Americans to a minimum. The rest of the period, the Russians were exclusively on the defensive. For the entire game, Shesterkin reflected more than forty shots of American players. This game of the goalkeeper has become a significant help to the entire national team in keeping the winning score. The practice of replacing the goalkeeper with a sixth field player at the end of the meeting did not help the Americans either. Russia held out and won 3: 2.
Valery Bragin's charges will play the next match in the tournament on January 4th. The rivals of the Russians in the semifinals will be the Swedish national team.
