The very first

The first meeting of the US and Russian teams at the World Championships was postponed for a long time. In 1992 and 1993, the teams were in different groups, and in the playoffs the paths did not overlap. The lot divided the two rivals in different groups and at the 1994 World Cup, for which the Russians arrived in the status of reigning champions.

In the course of the tournament, nothing foretold the first match after the collapse of the USSR - the Russians won one match after another, as did the Americans. However, by the end of the group stage, the situation began to change. The United States lost the key games in Sweden and Finland, and besides, American striker Bill Lindsey was caught using ephedrine and disqualified.

The Russians had a choice - to beat Canada and take the first place in the group to play with the Czech Republic, or become the second and get into the playoffs of an opponent who had a difficult time. According to rumors that went among fans and journalists, the coaching staff focused on the second option.

Vyacheslav Kozlov drove up to the Russian national team for the match with the Americans, who played the shock for the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup and scored seven points in seven games. But the first match of Russia and the United States ended unexpectedly with the defeat of the reigning champions.

At the gate, Mikhail Shtalenkova 54 shots struck, and could hardly be his fault that he could not cope with three. Scott Young from Quebec Nordix scored a double and helped Craig Jenny open an account. In the third period, the Americans transferred the Russians with a score of 18: 4, and it was surprising that Yang's teammate, Andrei Kovalenko, managed to play one goal. The beginning of the new hockey confrontation turned out for the Russian team an unexpected departure in the quarterfinals of the 1994 World Cup.

Most offensive

For the 1996 World Cup, the Russian team did not win medals in two tournaments in a row, which in Soviet times was simply impossible to imagine. An attempt to interrupt an unsuccessful series was undertaken by a team led by Vladimir Vasiliev. After the group stage, fans had hope that the team would return with awards - the Russians scored five wins out of five, including over Canada and the United States. In the first match of the playoffs, the national team also had no problems with the Italians.

However, in the semifinals, Russia lost to Canadians in shootouts and again fell to the Americans in the match for third place. At first, the match was dictated by the Russians - Alexei Yashin and Dmitry Kvartalnov already by the fifth minute made the score 2: 0. Americans for the entire first period, caused only one shot at the goal of Mikhail Shtalenkova. In the middle of the match, the Russians' advantage still increased - Sergei Berezin most of them scored.

What happened afterwards cannot be explained. At the junction of the second and third periods, the Americans scored three goals, not at all derived from the logic of the game. The meeting turned into overtime and began to evoke unpleasant memories of the match with Canada. However, the Americans soon remained in the minority, and the Russian hockey players had a great chance to finally decide on the winner in their favor.

However, the loss of the defender Boris Mironov led to the fact that Brian Rolston ran into a counterattack in the 65th minute and for the third time in the tournament he made an accurate shot on the Russians goal. The Americans won bronze medals and interrupted their 34-year medal-free series.

Most boring

In 1997, the organizers of the World Championship decided to experiment with the format and proposed a new scheme of the draw. The best teams of the group stage united and played against each other again, this time defining the participants of the final and the match for the third place. Thus, all the strong teams are guaranteed to have at least one meeting with each other.

Russians and Americans met in the second group stage. Both teams needed points to continue the fight for medals. The wards of Igor Dmitriev retained good chances for the final thanks to an unexpected victory over the top favorites from Sweden. But the game with the United States almost destroyed all the dreams and also became the most boring in the history of the confrontation between the two teams.

The score was opened only in the 38th minute through the efforts of Marty McInnis. Until the end of the second half, the Russians had a chance to equalize in the majority, but Alexey Chupin did not realize the one-on-one way out. Dmitriyev's wards in the last period were clearly stronger than the US team, but answered only with one goal for the authorship of Alexei Morozov. At that time, draws were still in the order of things, and the teams shared the points. The Russians after that suffered two more defeats - from Canada and the Czech Republic.

The most important

In 2009, the Russian national team defending the world title again met twice with the Americans - in the group stage and in the playoffs. Only now, the teams played the most important meeting in the 15-year history of the confrontation - at the end of the game they reached the final and at least silver medals.

The first game wards Vyacheslav Bykov won with a score of 4: 1, by the 22nd minute, fixing the final result. The Americans then strongly summed up the removal, which allowed the Russians to throw three goals. US hockey players learned their lesson and began to play deliberately in the semifinal match.

In the first period, the teams were pretty cautious, and the goalkeepers showed absolute reliability. The account was opened only in the 24th minute, and this was caused by Vitaly Atyushov’s mistake, which inaccurately gave the transmission to Dustin Brown. Then Ilya Kovalchuk took over the business - within ten minutes he played one puck and helped Alexander Frolov to distinguish himself. True, the Russians did not manage to finish the second period - Kyle Okposo found an unprotected corner in the gate of Ilya Bryzgalov.

In the final third of the Russians all the forces tried to get a ticket to the finals, and the Americans still trembled. TJ Oshi retired three and a half minutes before the end of normal time. Alexander Radulov immediately struck a powerful shot from the throw-in circle, and the puck ricocheted about Konstantin Gorovikov, flew into the goal. Soon, the Russian team beat Canada in the final, winning the second gold in a row, and Kovalchuk was recognized as the most valuable player in the tournament.

The most productive

Four years later, Russia and the United States again twice met at one world championship, only now they failed to make a winning double. The team of Zinetuly Bilyaletdinov held a productive match in the group stage, winning it with a score of 5: 3. The next meeting in the quarterfinal was also rich in goals, but now the Americans have taken over.

Alexander Ovechkin has just arrived at the location of the Russian team. Without a single workout, he immediately went out on the ice and met with resistance from the 19-year-old goalkeeper John Gibson. His confidence was transferred to the partners, and in the middle of the first period they scored two goals for Ilya Bryzgalov with a difference of 50 seconds. The answer came only from Alexander Svitova.

After the break, the Americans began to punish every careless action, and by the end of 40 minutes the score was already 4: 1. One of those who distinguished themselves in the US team was a young Alex Galchenyuk - the son of Alexander Galkhenyuk, who played for Russia and Belarus. At the beginning of the third period, when Bryzgalov was already replaced by Semyon Varlamov, Ovechkin returned the intrigue, especially since immediately after his goal the Americans got deleted.

But Ryan Carter scored in the minority, and after Alexander Perezhogin's goal, the US team responded with three more goals in 116 seconds. Varlamov then with anger hit the bar with a club - the Russian team lost 3: 8 and could not fix the situation. Despite the deafening failure and departure at the quarterfinal stage, Bilyaletdinov remained at the helm of the national team and continued to prepare it for the Olympic Games in Sochi.

Most crushing

Since then, Russian hockey players have managed to rehabilitate, and even more than once - it is enough to recall and defeat with a score of 6: 1 a year later, and victory in the semifinals of 2015 with four unanswered pucks. But the best gift Oleg Znarka wards presented to the fans at the home world championship in 2016. The national teams of Russia and the USA were to meet again in the match for the bronze medals.

From the very beginning, the guests decided to go on the offensive, trying to defeat the close-to-ideal Russian team at the expense of the quick goal - the landing force from the Washington Capitals joined it at the last moment. But Sergei Bobrovsky was not difficult to repel all the shots in the first period, and such insistence of the Americans only provoked the field players. It is symbolic that the account was opened by Vyacheslav Voinov - he had just returned from an American prison and was especially determined to win.

Sergei Mozyakin, Ivan Telegin and Yevgeny Dadonov increased the score to 4: 0 by the 33rd minute, and the fate of the bronze medals could be considered decided. The honor of American hockey tried to defend Frank Vatrano who took the double, but after his head the Russians only increased the difference in the score. The ice masters calmly played the title of the best scorer of the tournament among themselves, which went to Vadim Shipachev - in that match, he gave up the transfer and put a full stop seven seconds before the siren. The final score was 7: 2 - in the modern history of the confrontation between Russia and the United States, this is the biggest victory of Russian hockey players.