The Swedes this year acquired all the high-profile titles: for the second time in history, they became Olympic champions and won the World Cup. But the authority of the Russian team did not work. At least in full-time matches, our hockey players proved their superiority over and over again. It was in the final of the Eurotour, and in the match of the Olympic preliminary stage, which stands apart: future champions hopelessly lost to the team of Vladimir Krikunov (0: 5). The winning tradition was not broken at the Karjala Cup. Russia was again stronger than the Scandinavians.
By the will of the draw, the Russians held their second match in a row at a party. Swedish fans, taking advantage of the geographical proximity to Finland, filled the Hartwall Arena by almost a quarter. They decorated the palace in their favorite poisonous yellow, like a ripe lemon, colors, and to their pleasure throated songs. However, no matter how hard they tried, they shout down our torsida, who chanted together the favorite “Puck! The puck! ”Could not.
The pre-match excitement was transmitted to the players. There was no hint of academic, dull hockey to match the dank Finnish weather. The game started with cavalry attacks of the Russians. As in the first match, the tone was set by two youth links. Kuryanov’s five tried especially hard: the restless Kulemin, over and over, left Swedish defenders as bulky as a dump truck and threw them from advantageous positions, but fortune was clearly not on his side on Saturday evening. She favored another young talent Timofey Shishkanov, who received an invitation to the team at the very last moment. But more on that later…
The Swedes quietly beat off the Russians by swiftly until there was a reason to snap. Defender Magnus Johansson calmly, in the Scandinavian manner, realized a numerical advantage by a throw from the blue line. Goalkeeper Alexander Eremenko, who replaced the debutant Koshechkin who played well in the first match, could not help out the team with all the desire: the puck ricocheted off Vitaliy Atyushov's skate and drove into the goal. Having scored a goal, the Swedes tried to put the game in a calm direction, imposed a fight on our attackers at the sides and practically did not let them to their possessions until the middle of the second period. The defense of “Tre Krunur” did not fail, and every minute the soul became more anxious. The positional failure in our defense added fuel to the fire. The Swedes easily played the witty combination of two into one, and Tim Ericsson successfully played on finishing - 0: 2.
Vyacheslav Bykov was clearly not thrilled. It’s good that thirty seconds before the end of the second twenty-minute period, we managed to play the deficit in one goal. Igor Volkov and Timofei Shishkanov completely confused clumsy rivals on the spot. The first bell rang for the Swedes.
The Scandinavians were in no hurry to listen to him. But in vain! At the very beginning of the third period, the fourth link again surprised: Shishkanov single-handedly created a goal-masterpiece, leaving three rivals out of work at the same time. The Swedes still managed to bite their teeth and come forward (Johan Davidsson realized the majority), but ours could no longer be stopped. Defender Denis Grebeshkov in a counterattack finished off the puck after a lucky throw by Happy, and the next two goals were scored with an interval of 12 (!) Seconds. Russia was again made happy by Ivan Nepryaev and Peter Happy, who had re-opened in the role of center forward. The poor Swedes were granted another goal, then they tried to organize a nervous ending, replacing the goalkeeper with the sixth field player, but they could have missed rather than evened the score.
The Russian team has strengthened its leadership in the Eurotour (14 points) and continues to lead the Karjala Cup standings. In another match of the day, the hosts confidently, despite the score, outplayed the Czechs - 2: 1. Thus, to win at the Finnish stage, Bykov’s wards in the final match, it’s enough not to lose the Czech team in regular time. But who today believes that Russia, hungry for great successes, is capable of trifling? Slavic brothers must be beaten.
Cheer for ours! Vyacheslav Bykov brought a really nice team to Helsinki. So far, we are only proud of her game ...
RUSSIA - SWEDEN - 5: 4 (0: 1, 1: 1, 4: 2)
0-1. M. Johansson (J. Davidsson), 16:31 - in the majority
0: 2. O. Steen (D. Elvestad), 37:56
1: 2. Volkov (Shishkanov), 39:30
2: 2. Shishkanov (Nepryaev), 42:06
2: 3. J. Davidsson (J. Jensson, P. Holberg), 46:16 - in the majority
3: 3. Grebeshkov (Happy, Vorobiev), 47:06
4: 3. Happy (Skates), 50:24
5: 3. Nepryaev (Volkov, Shishkanov), 50:38
5: 4. Mensson (M. Johansson, J. Ericsson), 51:09