Opening failure, Askarov's mistakes and Abramov's missed goal: how Russia lost to Canada in the MFM-2021 semifinals

The confrontation between the national teams of Russia and Canada is rightfully considered one of the most anticipated and high-profile not only at the adult, but also at the youth world championship.

Over the past ten years, only three times the final of the championship did without the participation of one of the teams, while three times the winner of the gold medals was determined precisely in the confrontation between the hockey superpowers.

Therefore, it is not surprising that even before the start, it was the wards of Igor Larionov and Andre Turiny who were considered the main favorites of the tournament.

True, in Edmonton, “maple leaves” were still considered as contenders for gold No. 1.

Unlike the Russians, they had an experienced squad, the backbone of which even had last year's championship medals in their piggy bank.

18-year-old Quinton Byfield and Jamie Drysdale matured in a year and significantly improved their skills, which could be said about Dawson Mercer and Bowen Byram.

As for Dylan Cosens and Connor McMichael, both were among the best scorers of the team back in the Czech Republic, and in their native land they turned into the main stars of the tournament.

First of all, we are talking about Cosense, with 13 (7 + 6) points located on the second line in the scorers' race.

The bookmakers, who saw them as clear favorites in the match with the Russians, also gave preference to the hosts of the competition.

Nevertheless, Larionov admitted that his charges were not embarrassed by the status of the underdogs and expressed the opinion that this would only benefit his team.

As an additional motivation, he also named the defeat in the MFM-2020 final.

Then the domestic squad in an equal fight lost with a score of 3: 4, and the ending was remembered for the dramatic episode with the puck hitting the camera after the throw of the Canadian Aidan Dudas.

Before the match, Larionov faced an interesting dilemma regarding the formation of the squad.

Mikhail Abramov, who missed the quarterfinals with Germany due to disqualification, and Yegor Chinakhov, who was injured in the group stage game with Austria, returned to the clip.

The mentor, as expected, did not refuse the services of strong performers and both found a place on the ice.

But if the decision to put the forward of "Victoriaville" in the second link hardly surprised anyone, then the intention to release the forward "Vanguard" in the fourth one raised questions.

Especially considering that up to the present moment the performance of Vasily Ponomarev's troika made the most solid and vivid impression.

Surely it was worth expecting that the meeting with the Canadians would not be the easiest in the tournament.

This was evidenced by at least the fact that until now they have won all the matches with a total goal difference of 36: 4 and have never conceded in equal compositions.

But the debut turned out to be completely discouraging.

Already at the 59th second, Alex Newhook found himself all alone next to Yaroslav Askarov's goal and threw irresistibly into the top nine.

Initially, the referees did not notice that the puck crossed the line, so they needed to use a video replay to determine the goal.

There is a squad for the semifinals with the Canadians!

The starting throw-in is at 2:00 Moscow time.

🥅 Goalkeepers: Askarov, Akhtyamov

⠀ # russia in my heart pic.twitter.com / LNM5f4H39h

- Hockey of Russia (@russiahockey) January 4, 2021

Until a certain point, Larionov's wards fought on equal terms with an opponent, but from about the fifth minute, the difference in the level of readiness began to affect.

The Russians were inferior in speed, and the desire at all costs to start attacks through a short pass led to losses in their zone.

Plus, Askarov also got nervous.

At a crucial moment, the goalkeeper lost his stick and failed to prevent Connor McMile from doubling the lead.

Towards the end of the segment, the situation became critical.

First, Vasily Podkolzin inadvertently played in a fight with Bayram and hit him in the face with a stick.

The Canadian started bleeding, which gave the arbitrators a reason to write out two small fines to the Russian.

North Americans did not forgive such an oversight and increased the score to a large one.

Cole Perfetti found himself unsupervised in the right throw-in circle and sent the puck right at the hand of Askarov.

The beginning of the second period turned out to be no less difficult.

At one point, the Canadians more than doubled the Russians in the number of shots on target, and then distinguished themselves for the fourth time.

Askarov got nervous again and lost his club, as a result of which he was powerless to reflect the long-range throw of Braden Schneider.

Let him go to the side of the trap, but it did not help.

But it made me once again think about a possible replacement of the goalkeeper, which Larionov never did.

Until the last five minutes of the segment, it was difficult to imagine that the Russian team is capable of creating serious problems for the opponent.

Larionov's wards barely crossed the bar of ten shots at Devon Levy's goal, and Rodion Amirov remained the author of the most dangerous of them for a long time.

But suddenly there was a turning point.

First, Arseniy Gritsyuk almost shoved the puck past the goalkeeper, and then McMichael came to the rescue.

The Canadian earned a removal and allowed the domestic squad for the first and, running ahead, the only time to be in the majority.

The opportunity to play in unequal teams encouraged the guests and almost revived the intrigue.

Mikhail Abramov scored with an accurate throw and, as it seemed, returned the team to the game.

But the Canadian referees, who after lengthy screenings decided to cancel the goal.

In their opinion, Semyon Chistyakov rolled into the enemy's zone prematurely.

This event was a serious blow to the Russians, and Cosens could finally finish them off.

But Askarov proved that it was not in vain that he stayed on the ice.

The goalkeeper deflected the bullet in excellent style and partially rehabilitated himself for a number of mistakes in the first 20 minutes.

In the third period, the course of the game did not undergo any significant changes.

The Russians continued to bend their line and bet on combination hockey, but that did not work against the aggressive, physically strong Canadians.

The North Americans were stronger and faster, which remained noticeable throughout the meeting.

Attempts by the same Podkolzin to break into the zone did not look so fast and did not create problems for the championship hosts.

And in their own zone, everything literally fell out of hand.

So, during one of the attacks of the "maple leaves" two domestic defenders dropped the clubs at once, but Askarov came to the rescue.

Closer to the end, Turinny's team slowed down and allowed the opponents to create several dangerous moments.

At first, the same Podkolzin threw after leaving the gate, and after Shakir Mukhamadullin's throw, the puck shook the barbell.

But Levy still managed to keep the gate intact and remained the only goalkeeper of the championship who did not concede a single goal in equal compositions.

In the last minutes, Larionov made a desperate attempt to soak the score, but she came out sideways.

The exit of the sixth field player, although it led to a couple of dangerous episodes at the gate of Levy, ended with another goal from the Canadians.

Cozens rolled onto an empty net and in the absence of Askarov easily transferred the puck into the net.

For the first time in history, the Russian national team could not distinguish themselves in two matches of the youth world championship and suffered a crushing defeat in the semifinals.

Now the national squad will fight for bronze.