Spectacular comeback: how the Russian national team bounced back from 1: 5 and defeated the USA in overtime at the YWCHM-2021 hockey

The junior ice hockey world championship this year immediately began for the Russian national team with a difficult test.

The current winners of the silver medals were to begin the group stage with a meeting with the hosts of the tournament and its main favorites - the Americans.

It is they, not the Canadians, who are the trendsetters in youth hockey and have not left the podium since 2004, and also won gold more often than other teams.

The secret of the USA's success has long been known - young American hockey players do not play for individual clubs, but train in the national team all the time and achieve incredible teamwork, which then helps to shoot at the world championships.

By the same principle, they prepared for the home tournament in Texas, except perhaps by inviting goalkeeper Braden Holt from the side.

The start of the match was really discouraging for the Russians.

In less than five and a half minutes, two goals flew into the gate of Kirill Gerasimyuk.

Defender Ryan Chesley threw one from the right flank, and Dylan Duke scored the other at his own expense, realizing the first majority in the game.

Russian hockey players came to their senses four minutes later.

Danila Yurov took the game into his own hands, and after his breakthrough on the left flank, the gap was reduced.

The guests had enough chances to immediately equalize the score, but all their fuse disappeared with the removal of Nikita Chibrikov, from whom the main danger came.

The forward roughly attacked Justin Janikke and received a 2 + 10 penalty.

Sean Behrens quickly took advantage of this opportunity and neatly threw the third puck for his team from the brushes.

While Chibrikov was serving a sentence in the second period, the Americans continued to dominate the foreign zone. In the 22nd minute, the Russians lost sight of Ethan Stracky, and he sent Gerasimyuk to the bench with a short throw. Substitute Valery Brinkman did not keep his goal intact for long. Soon, the Americans again gained a numerical advantage and continued to sell the excess with a 100% result. The score 5: 1 in their favor was made by Sasha Pastukhov, a hockey player with Russian roots, whose older brothers Nick and Michael had already beat Russia at the junior world championship and won gold there.

But the youngest athlete from a hockey family never managed to continue the family tradition. Leshchev made adjustments to the composition, and it immediately began to bear fruit. A real assault on Gibson Homer's goal began, and soon Matvey Michkov, a 16-year-old hockey prodigy, from whom the fans expected miracles, first of all, scored his first goal at the junior world championship. Forward "SKA-1946" played well on finishing moves.

Less than two minutes later, Chibrikov rehabilitated himself in front of the team. His pause shot caught the American defense by surprise. True, the goal was eventually awarded to Vsevolod Gaydamak, who hit the puck on the patch. A little more time passed, and Michkov's surname was again highlighted on the scoreboard of the Comerica Center - he realized the majority with a whip from the right circle. But the minimum gap in the score did not last long - Dylan Duke soon scored a double, using Pastukhov's pass.

By that time, in the second period, the hockey players had scored six goals, but that was not all.

At the very end of the 20-minute, Ivan Miroshnichenko said his word, for whom it was a matter of principle to help the team in this match.

His participation in the tournament remained in doubt until recently, as the US authorities suddenly banned him from entering the country.

Fortunately, the unpleasant situation was resolved, and the World Cup did not remain without one of its stars.

48 seconds before the siren, Miroshnichenko punished Martin's son San Louis Ryan for sending him off and made the score 6: 5.

In the final third, the initiative was already fully owned by the Russians.

In the first minute, Yurov could level the score, but in the end it was the same Miroshnichenko who did it.

After two consecutive shots by Fedor Svechkov, he nevertheless brought the puck to the American goal five minutes before the end of regular time.

In the last minute Michkov had a chance to score a hat-trick and avoid overtime, but his shot from the middle distance was slightly inaccurate.

And in extra time Chibrikov scored his goal.

The striker started from his own goal, raced along the left flank and threw great from an acute angle under Homer's guards.

The Russian national team achieved an incredible victory with a score of 7: 6, having won back a gap of four goals.

So far, Leshchev's wards are inferior in Group B to the Czech team, which beat Germany in regulation time, but on April 27 they will be able to rise to first place in case of a victory over Slovakia.