Unfortunately for Russian fans, the tale of the Russian team at the World Championships in Slovakia came to an end. In the semifinals, the wards of Ilya Vorobyov suffered their first defeat in the tournament and could not give hockey fans a classic confrontation between the “red car” and “maple leaves”. The starless leader of the championship was played by the starless, but very played and uncompromising team of Finland under the leadership of Jukka Jalonen.
It should be noted that Suomi is one of the most inconvenient rivals for the Russian team. At the time of the World Cup semi-final in 2019, the teams held 123 in-person meetings with each other, in which they won an almost equal number of victories. Domestic hockey players took the top 60 times, their opponents - 57, and another six games ended in a draw. This statistic was hardly a coincidence and made it clear that for Ilya Kovalchuk and the company this game would not be an easy walk.
The presence on the coaching bridge of the Finnish national team Jukka Jalonen spoke about this. Eight years ago, he was able to stop the “red car”, and he did it at the very same “Ondrej Nepel Arena” in Bratislava. Then the “lions” sent three unanswered goals to the gates of Konstantin Barulin and proceeded to the final, in which they broke the resistance of the Swedes. By 2019, this triumph remains the only one for the XXI century for Suomi.
It is worth noting that the Finns hardly surprised anyone with their tactics in a match with the Russian national team. The team Yalonena did not have in its composition masters of such level as Ovechkin, Malkin and Gusev, but appeared to be a well-trained coaching team capable of performing any of the mentor’s tasks on ice. From the first minutes, the “lions” imposed a fight on each site of the site, preventing the “red car” from using its strengths, which became the key to success.
Under this incessant pressure, the Russian national team has often made mistakes, allowing the opponent to intercept the puck and dangerously throw it over the gates of Andrei Vasilevsky every time. Throughout most of the meeting, the Tampa Bay goalkeeper was forced to help out his partners, but in the middle of the third period even the challenger for the Vezina Trophy faltered.
Wards of Ilya Vorobyov tried to adhere to their corporate style of the game, which has already managed to become an object of universal admiration. They tried to go with lightning speed from defense to attack, but there they stumbled upon the strong defense of the enemy. The Finns confidently blocked the zone, slowed down the speed of the Russian forwards, did not allow them to go to the penny. The Russians had to make their way through the flanks, but these attempts often ended in fighting at the side.
The Finns acted quite aggressively and even transferred their rivals in the first period. At first, it might have seemed that the Russians deliberately gave up the initiative a bit in order to have more chances on counterattacks, but it turned out that this was not the case. The Finns imposed a tough fight on their opponents, seriously undermining the strength of Vorobyov’s wards, both physically and emotionally.
This was particularly evident in the end of the match, when the wards of Vorobiev looked exhausted. Every minute they were less able to speed raids, and the attacks turned into desperate throws from uncomfortable positions and attacks on the gate without a chance to fight on the coin.
Seeing the despair of their wards, the coaching staff had to intervene in the course of the game, but at the right moment the Russian team simply did not have a plan B. What worked in the matches with Sweden and the USA did not bring success this time. Perhaps Vorobyov had to decide on some changes, but he continued to stubbornly follow his tactics.
And this applies to gaming combinations. Take at least a link of Ovechkin and Kuznetsov, which throughout the tournament remained one of the most ineffective in the national team. Even during the NHL regular season, the Washington Capitals mentor Todd Rearden noted that the Russians are no longer interacting so well with each other, and spread them into different triples. As a result, Alexander, who spent most of the season playing with Niklas Backstrom, became the best sniper in the championship.
It is noteworthy that it even caused jokes from the press service of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). So, on Twitter, the organizations published a humorous rating of teams, in which the phrase “Soviet saying:“ When the game starts, the coach’s work ends ”appeared opposite the Russian national team.
The lack of coaching decisions does not relieve responsibility for the defeat of the players themselves. On the eve of the tournament, the Russian fans were waiting for a real extravaganza from the same Ovechkin and Malkin, but the legendary athletes were not able to demonstrate their usual level of skill. If you leave the teams of the level of Italy and Norway, in the matches with the participants of the playoffs, the forwards scored only four points for two.
Of this pair, Malkin was the only one who could score points for performance in the decisive matches of the tournament. But the transfer to Mikhail Grigorenko in a meeting with the United States is clearly not enough to call the performance of Yevgeny impressive. Ovechkin, for the most part of the championship, was not doing his job, trying to play for partners, but at the right moment simply could not realize his own chances. Alexander was very active during the battle with the Finns and recalled his focus on the gate, but failed to succeed.
The second last edition of the Power Rankings is here, #IIHFWorlds fans!
Read: https://t.co/0P5WGf1f3Wpic.twitter.com/0A0cNWe1K8
Surely in the semifinals, more was expected from Nikita Kucherov. The Tampa Bay Lightning forward brilliantly conducted the group stage of the tournament and competed with the Swede William Nylander for the title of top scorer. He earned many flattering epithets in Slovakia and was named by many, perhaps the best Russian hockey player at the moment.
However, at the onset of the playoffs, its performance noticeably subsided. At first he didn’t realize a lot of moments in the match with the Swedes, then he limited himself to one assault in a meeting with the USA, and in the game with the Finns only occasionally reminded that he was a record-holder among Russians on points in the NHL playoffs.
Of course, in this kind of sport one person is hardly capable of deciding the outcomes of all important matches, while at the same time the status of the best Russian hockey player presupposes the readiness to lead the team. However, at the crucial moment, Kucherov was unable to demonstrate his best qualities and lead the team to victory. And this year it happened to him like that. Thus, in the first round of the Eastern Conference with the Columbus Blue Jackets, he scored only two points, and missed one of the meetings because of the deletion.
As a result, the best hockey player in this match was Kirill Kaprizov. The 22-year-old forward was very active on his right side and regularly created chances both for himself and for his partners. Although the striker of CSKA couldn’t score with washers, he cannot reproach himself for the lack of commitment or fighting spirit.
Thus, at the right moment, the Russian team was unable to find the key to the game of an inconvenient opponent, and the team leaders, tired of the constant pressure, did not say their weighty word. "Red Car" suffered a third defeat in the last four matches with the "lions" in the world championships and now will fight for the bronze against the Czechs.