On May 10, the Russian national team began its journey at the 2019 Ice Hockey World Championship. The first rival of the Russians in the group stage was the national team of Norway. The game took place in the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava.
The Russian national team, as expected, actively started the match against the Norwegian team. The Russians attacked more often, they owned the puck more in a foreign zone. The only component in which the Russian national team lost at the start of the match was the throw-in. Our center-strikers have lost the first four introductions of the puck of the game.
The first dangerous moment in the period can be considered the attack of the goal by Nikita Kucherov, who from half of the zone tried to smuggle the puck into the goal, but the rubber disk hit the handle of the Norwegian goalkeeper's stick. Soon, our defender Dinar Khafizullin was shooting dangerously at goal, but the puck did not cross the cherished ribbon.
In the middle of the period, the Russian national team earned the first removal. Ilya Kovalchuk, the captain of the national team, was stopped by an illegal reception. It took the Russians 11 seconds to realize the first majority. Evgeni Malkin gave an excellent pass from outside the goal, after which the Florida Panthers forward Evgeny Dadonov opened the scoring in the match. Another assistant to the first goal at the 2019 World Cup for the Russian national team was Nikita Kucherov.
Immediately after the goal, the Russians earned a removal. However, the Norwegians were unable to convert the majority, although dangerous attacks were observed at the Vasilevsky gate.
At the 15th minute of the period, the Russians were able to score the second goal. The author of the goal was Artem Anisimov, who, having received a pass from Grigorenko, was able to shift the projectile under an uncomfortable hand and hit the top corner of the Norwegian goal from a penny. The first period ended with a score of 2: 0 in favor of the Russians.
The Russian national team began the second period with a removal. Evgeni Malkin received two penalty minutes for hitting an opponent on the stick. The Norwegians did not realize the majority.
At the 9th minute of the second period, the Russian national team got a second chance to play in the majority. The composition of the majority brigade did not disappoint this time either. Nikita Kucherov on the 9th minute of the period after the transfer of his teammate from Tampa Mikhail Sergachev hit the gate of the Norwegians from the right circle of the throw-in.
A minute later, the Russians again earned the right to play in the majority. For the third time, a team led by Malkin, Kucherov and Dadonov was the first to attack the rivals' gates. The fourth puck was not long in coming. Malkin and Dadonov repeated the combination of the first period, after which the Florida striker scored his second goal and the fourth goal of the match.
Until the end of the period, the account did not change. Before the last break, the Russians were leading 4: 0.
The Russians started the final twenty minutes actively. After just one and a half minutes, Las Vegas forward Nikita Gusev, after Nikita Kucherov's pass, sent the fifth puck into the Norwegians' goal. This goal was the last for the Russian national team in the match.
Ilya Vorobyov's wards were greased in the ending of the meeting. Andrei Vasilevsky failed to register his first clean sheet in the tournament. The Norwegian national team was able to throw two goals into our goal at 17 and 18 minutes. The final score is 5: 2 in favor of the Russian national team.
Despite the two conceded goals, the Russians outplayed the Norwegian national team in the class. It was seen that the level of NHL players is significantly higher than that of the Scandinavian hockey players.
