First five
Emelin - Kondratiev, Kulemin - Nepryaev - Ovechkin (Kharitonov)
At first they looked very interesting. Better and better play the pass, and obviously do it with pleasure. But as soon as Ovechkin begins to reach the majority with other combinations, problems begin. After replacing Ovechkin with Kharitonov, in the third period they generally went into the shadows.
Second five
Atyushov - Grebeshkov, Radulov - Happy - Kharitonov (Ovechkin)
In the attack, little has happened - that with Kharitonov, that with Ovechkin. In defense, Atyushov twice awoke. At first, the Italians intercepted his cross pass in the area of our team, and after a few seconds he picked himself up with the puck. Thanks to Eremenko and the great craftsmanship of Italians. They should have punished already for the first mistake.
Third five
Markov - Potter, Frolov - Malkin - Kovalchuk
Perhaps the best match of this link, if you do not pay attention to flaws in the defense, which, however, were different. Kovalchuk looked interesting. And he finally scored a goal - the first in the tournament. And he shifted the emphasis of his game to repacking. Sometimes he even went too far - he gave the puck to his partner, when he could obviously throw himself. We write to inexperience in this component. Scoring him is still much more common than giving out programs.
Fourth five
Proshkin - Nikulin, Morozov - Zinoviev - Zaripov
The game they failed. Even to show their corporate understanding failed. There were a lot of mistakes and defects in the programs. For example, they missed the Italians three out on one Nikulin - the benefit of Ilya saved the situation. Zinoviev also laid the puck on Parko's stick, fortunately, Nikulin again secured. Nevertheless, in the majority they scored their duty goal, albeit in the last seconds. It is calming.
Goalkeeper
Alexander Eremenko
For the goalkeeper, the game also turned out to be difficult. Even though Italians were the last to think about the attack. They rarely bothered Alexander, but aptly. For the most part with the help of the defenders of the Russian team. Eremenko managed, and deserved the first dry match for our team.
Special brigades
In most cases, the Russian team did not succeed in playing with Italians. Even Zinoviev’s link didn’t move well and offered insufficiently original solutions, although it did score in the end. Bykov continued his experiments in finding a place for Ovechkin. Now he came out instead of Kharitonov, first in the majority, and then in equal compositions. But so far it is difficult to evaluate this option. They played in such a combination is not enough.
In the minority, the three of us were especially successful. Nepryaev, and then Kulemin and the defenders in a minute and a half, never once allowed the Italians to throw Eremenko on goal. But they themselves spent this segment somehow very stupid. Major checks, however, for minority brigades to come. The first serious - with the Finns - by and large did not pass.
Summary
Remembering how the Czechs played with the Germans yesterday, and the Swedes conceded to the Danes during the match, how today the Canadians lost the first period to the Belarusians, you come to the conclusion that everything is fine with us. Well, the Italians goalkeeper played great, they defended themselves well, and therefore the victory turned out to be so creaky.
Of course, after the enchanting defeats of Denmark with Ukraine, and two elegant periods with the Finns, only 3-0 with the Italians are not very inspiring. But the fact that it is more difficult to play at this stage with teams such as Italy is objective. It is at the preliminary stage that they were preparing exclusively for the match with a direct competitor and were not particularly puffed with favorites. Now, when the main task for the tournament is completed, you can chop off with the big seven - there’s nothing to lose, psychological pressure is zero.
Although it is impossible to ignore the fact that the Russian team played not in the best way. Although they say everything about the fact that the mood for the opponent was excellent, that all the problems were from excessive efforts, it was invisible in the game. Definitely lacked command speed. To that, naturally, the rival is also guilty - the Italians very well dug in their zone. But there was also a flaw on the part of the Russian team. From lack of movement - lack of options for developing an attack. This concerned the majority, and the game in equal compositions. And our team’s positional game is still a weak spot. There is nothing terrible, however, in this - we must use our strengths. But with the Italians it turned out badly. And Switzerland is an even more difficult opponent. She knows how to defend herself no worse, but she is able to punish for mistakes.