After a sensational defeat in the semifinals of the national team of Finland, the Russian national hockey team had to spend its last match in the tournament. In the game for bronze, the wards of Ilya Vorobyov met with the Czechs, who missed five goals from the Canadians the day before, while they themselves distinguished themselves only once.
Over the last month, the teams have already managed to meet each other twice. First it happened in Brno, at the final stage of the Euro Hockey Tour, and then at the World Championships in Slovakia itself. In both cases, the "red car" confidently took over. The Russians won twice with a difference of three goals and showed their serious class advantage.
The main intrigue of the meeting was the motivation of the Vorobyov wards. Throughout the tournament, the team, scored by the NHL stars, showed beautiful and effective hockey, but even with Nikita Kucherov, Andrey Vasilevsky, Alexander Ovechkin and Yevgeny Malkin, she could not overcome the uncompromising Finns. Of course, athletes who were counting only on victory could lose heart and not be able to tune in to the consolation final.
In addition, there was no doubt in the mood of the Czechs. Unlike their counterparts, over the past seven years, they could not boast of a single medal championship of the planet. The last time they won bronze in 2012, but are unlikely to be proud of the performance. In the semifinals, they unexpectedly lost to Slovakia, but in the match for the third place they managed to partially rehabilitate themselves, taking over Finland. It is noteworthy that at that time hockey players from Russia, led by Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, became the owners of the gold medals.
Compared to the semi-final match, Ilya Vorobyov significantly redrew the combination in defense. Only a bunch of Dmitry Orlov - Nikita Zaitsev remained intact, while all the others underwent a change. So, Nikita Nesterov was out of the application, and together with Mikhail Sergachev Dinar Khafizullin replaced him. Next to Vladislav Gavrikov was Nikita Zadorov, and Artem Zub took the place of the seventh defender.
In the very first minutes there was a feeling that Russians do not have problems with mood. They rushed forward with all their forces and in just half the period six times disturbed Simon Grubets. And the most dangerous moments are expected to arise when playing in the majority. Wards Vorobiev had an excellent chance to realize a numerical advantage, but the goalkeeper coped with a sweeping throw Nikita Kucherov.
By the middle of the period, the game calmed down a bit, but only to explode in the second half. In total, with an interval of 41 seconds, Mikhail Grigorenko opened the scoring, and Mikhail Rzhepik restored the status quo. Moreover, if the CSKA striker great put a stick under the throw of Mikhail Sergachev from the blue line, then the goal of the Czechs was the result of a failure in the defense of the Russians. All the same defender "Tampa Bay" and Dinar Hafizullin missed Rzhepik behind his back and allowed him to "shoot" Vasilevsky.
According to the logic of things, after such a failure the Russians had to inflate the pace and rush to the attack, but everything turned out to be exactly the opposite. The Czechs, inspired by their first goal against the Russians in the tournament, continued to push and after just five minutes they took the lead. Jan Kovář, without resistance, got the puck outside the goal and addressed it to the blatant Dominik Kubalik. The striker Ambri-Piotta of Switzerland threw in touch - and did not lose.
The start of the second period Vorobyov wards held collected. Only 39 seconds it took Artyom Anisimov to level the score, and Nikita Gusev acted as an assistant. Forward "Vegas" has issued its 16th score in the tournament and on this indicator caught up with Kucherov and Czech Jakub Voracek. Later he could have distinguished himself, but the puck after his throw from the limits of the left circle of the throw-in fell into the frame.
However, the superintense first half of the period was replaced by the unemotional second. The Russians again slowed down, which their opponents immediately took advantage of. In just a few minutes, the Riha team could hit Vasilevsky gate three times, but the goalkeeper stood again with a wall. Andrei played another outstanding match in the tournament, and thanks to him, by the beginning of the final segment of the meeting his team-mates had only two goals in their passive.
The situation on the ice did not change even after the second break. The Russians looked surprisingly tired, although they had more than four hours to recover and could not be noted for dangerous shots on goal. Not even the removal of Jan Kolář helped. The majority special brigade entered the rival zone only once, but it could miss twice after counterattacks.
The Russians needed a leader or support from fans, able to instill confidence in them. But Kucherov, Ovechkin and Malkin again held not the brightest match, and the fans still worried about the defeat of the Finns.
It became quite alarming after the removal of Mikhail Grigorenko. Forward CSKA grabbed a small penalty for the bandwagon and left his team in the minority. The Czechs staged a real siege at the gates of Vasilevsky, but the puck didn’t cross the line with the titanic efforts of the goalkeeper. In one of the episodes, he made three saves in a row, stretched out in a string.
The Russians spent the end of the period at their own gates and only thanks to Vasilevsky’s efforts they managed to keep an equal score. For 60 minutes of pure playing time, Vorobyov’s charges made only 28 shots at the opponents goal, while the latter made 44. At the same time, the Czechs transferred Russians to each of the twenty-five minutes, which looked crazy, considering the teams roasters.
From the first seconds of overtime, in which the rivals figured out relations in the “three by three” format, serious passions flared up on the ice. In the opening attack, Philip Hronek had an excellent chance to excel, and in the response attack, Orlov checked Grubets’s vigilance. However, the most successful moment to draw a line under the tournament, had Gusev. Kucherov gathered all his counterparts at once, led his partner to an empty net, but Nikita somehow missed the target, although the goalkeeper was beaten.
As a result, after another pair of counter-attacks by Czechs, the match reached the shootout, in which Vasilevsky confirmed the title of one of the best goalkeepers in the world and, no doubt, the best player in the national team at the tournament. He defended four shots and helped the national team win bronze medals. The Russians also realized two of the three hockey penalties. The first distinguished himself was Ilya Kovalchuk, who threw an uncomfortable hand into the nearest nine, and then Nikita Gusev, who sent the puck under the goalkeeper, redeemed his guilt.