Everything somehow went wrong in our own right. Quick removal, quick missed goal. Johansson's long throw was not easy to take Barulin, to put it mildly - two rivals and his own defender loomed before him at once. He did not take it - the Swedes realized the majority in half a minute. They needed even less for the next goal. Turnberg closed the chamber of Mertensson without guardianship and into an empty corner - here Barulin had no chance at all.
In the interval between the conceded goals, the Russian team also played in the majority. But, as usual, she did not know what to do with him, a cursed one. Ours couldn’t even enter the opponent’s zone, not to settle down there and all the more to figure out which combination. In general, only two episodes of the game of the Russian team are most worthy of mention. Alas, only because the Swedes scored in those cases.
What can we say about the majority with which our team does not develop friendships for a long time and is strong. Even in equal compositions, nothing happened. Unless only the first link, in which the former Yaroslavl led by captain Happy, gathered, tried to come up with something like that. But the Swedish defenders pragmatically extinguished all their creative blueprints.
The pass game ended at the entrance to a foreign zone. Stroke categorically did not pass. Desperation climbed on board - the Swedes of daredevils and spread it on it. The beginning of the second period reinforced this bleak picture many times. After Elvestad’s removal, ours, with a sin, halved in the zone, but Nikulin screwed up here. The Swedes fled to a counterattack, and Bremberg threw with all the amenities - 0: 3 ...
A colleague expressed dissatisfaction with the report from the match between the national teams of Russia and Finland. There was, he said, no explanation of how it turned out that our hockey players lost 0-3 and why they were able to win later. How can this be explained? This is hardly seriously understood even by the Bulls and the players themselves. Here usually everything is decided by a real trifle. A good stroke, an unexpected pass, and off we go.
So with the Swedes - the Russian team lost the match outright and suddenly scored two goals, the logic of which was barely. Kondratiev joined the attack on the left and otpasoval on Kulemin. He from a decent distance successfully threw in touch - 1: 3. And after a minute - 2: 3. Fighting on the port side, Booth picked up a rebound - and on the far post to Happy. How not to remember the match with the Finns?
But it was not worth remembering. Although our game has already gone, it has shocked the Swedes. Booth could equalize, and even should have, but was carried away by pauses. Still threw the goal, but not from the best position, and Gistedt pulled out. And then Bykov was not lucky. When trying to click, his club broke. I had to foul so as not to miss Mertensson, who was running away to meet Barulin. Stop failed, but the goalkeeper, fortunately, helped out. But the removal knocked our mood and helped the Swedes recover. So, already in an almost equal game, they reached the break.
This is to talk about the little things. Could the same thing happen when our team played with the Finns? Why not? The outcome of almost any match of equal rivals is decided by the episodes. In Mytishchi, these episodes played for us. In Stockholm - against. That is the whole explanation. It can be said that walls helped there.
And then the Russian team was simply finished off, with its full assistance. Fernholm, left without patronage on the spot, realized the third Swedish majority. Having sat for two periods on the bench, Parshin picked himself up with the puck and became the co-author of the next shooting of the empty corner of Barulin's goal. Finally, at the last touch, Nikulin’s second mistake in the majority, again Mertensson fled face to face with our goalkeeper and this time scored - 2: 6.
The defeat turned out to be painful, but there will be a chance for revenge. After all, with this victory, the Swedish team won the home stage of the Eurotour and secured its participation in the final, where Russia has long been waiting for it. The last gaming day of the Swedish Games has become an absolute formality.
PS It so happened that in Sweden the Russian team was with the only, in fact, goalkeeper - Barulin. The injured Eremenko remained in the reserve, and junior Varlamov, due to health reasons, generally remained at home. But this is not accepted as an excuse. A place at the gate of the Swedes was taken by a recent rival of Varlamov at the Histedt youth world championship.