For the Russian national team, the match with the national team of Finland could be safely considered one of the most important in the group stage of the junior world championship. The victory opened the way for the wards of Albert Leshchev to the first place in the B quintet, which, in turn, made it possible to count on a meeting with less skilled opponents in the quarterfinals. Given the fact that since 2013, domestic athletes have completed their performances at the first stage of the playoffs four times, such a chance should not be missed.

After a phenomenal comeback against ten-time world junior champions, the Russian hockey players were probably in high spirits. But in fact, this could have both a positive and a negative effect on her performance in the second round. So, the bronze medalist of the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, Andrei Nikolishin, feared that a triumph in a meeting with the United States could cause domestic players a feeling of euphoria and prevent them from properly tuning in to the match with the Finns. And these rivals shouldn't have been underestimated for a variety of reasons.

The Finns not only shared the second place with the Russians in the number of awards at the junior world championships, but at the same time were extremely uncomfortable opponents. By the time the competition started, the losing streak of the Russian national team in a face-to-face duel was four matches, and the last victory was won back in 2013. At the group stage, led by Pavel Buchnevich and Ivan Barbashev, the team prevailed with a score of 3: 1, but in the battle for the bronze, the Suomi team turned out to be stronger (2: 1). Besides, the difference in "physics" could be of great importance. Petri Karjalainen's charges rested on the first day of the tournament and were obviously fresher.

The first period turned out to be extremely difficult for Leshchev's charges. The Finns took control of the puck and began to act as the first number, forcing the 17-year-old goalkeeper Sergei Ivanov to regularly enter the game. The mentor decided to give rest both to Kirill Gerasimyuk, who conceded four goals, and Valery Brinkman, who did not reflect two shots, betting on the youngest of the goalkeepers. And apparently, he was right. In the first period alone, he made 16 saves and twice helped his partners to survive in the minority.

For comparison, the Russians inflicted only six shots at the opponent's goal in the first 20 minutes, but one of them was accurate. Danila Yurov took the puck away from defender Yimi Suomi in the middle zone and helped organize a lightning-fast counterattack. Ivan Miroshnichenko went to a rendezvous with the goalkeeper, but did not become greedy and rolled the puck at Fedor Svechkov. He left no chances for Ake Koskenvuo and brought the national team forward.

The second period was held in a more equal struggle. The Russians again allowed 16 shots on Ivanov's goal, but they themselves answered 12th. Perhaps the surge in activity was due to the fact that already in the second minute the nominal hosts took advantage of the inconsistency in the actions of their opponents and restored parity. During the positional attack, three Finns were left without care at once: Brad Lambert picked up the puck at the side and sent it to the blue line, and Villami Juusola sent it to a nickel. Salminen herself realized her moment.

As in the match with the USA, the conceded goal only provoked the domestic hockey players. They increased the pace, began to move forward more actively, and in less than three minutes they took the lead again. This time, Nikita Chibrikov took over the role of a sniper, scoring the second goal in the tournament. The Russians did great forechecking again, but this time not in the middle zone, but right in front of the Koskenvuo goal. 16-year-old Matvey Michkov provoked a loss from the opponent, and the captain sent the puck tightly to the bar.

The third goal of the Russian national team had to wait much longer - almost 14 minutes.

Moreover, she could have increased the gap earlier, but Yurov and Michkov lacked accuracy a little.

The Finns, on the other hand, sagged noticeably, and almost all of their successes were associated either with the mistakes of the Russians or with the individual actions of Lambert.

He was great at "dragging" the puck and tried to act as an organizer of attacks, but did not receive support from partners.

And at the end of the period, Leshchev's team again showed itself great in a counterattack.

Yurov famously dispersed the offensive and, with a spectacular trick, misled the defender, after which he rolled out the pass to the free Svechkov.

Fedor threw in a touch and scored a double.

One of the positive aspects of the second period was the absence of deletions in the Russian national team, which in many respects made it possible to level the game. In the final 20-minute, Leshchev's wards managed to manage without violations for a long time, but closer to the end, the nerves of young athletes began to fail more and more often. First, Alexander Figurin got two minutes for the bandwagon, and then the experienced Yurov.

Although the Finns were unable to take advantage of the numerical advantage, they regained self-confidence. But until a certain moment, Ivanov was unmistakable, making one save after another. Especially memorable was the episode when the SKA-Varyagi goalkeeper reflected two shots by Joakim Kemmel in a few seconds. Nevertheless, the pressure on the gates of the Russians only grew, and they needed a break. And this one introduced herself four minutes before the final whistle. Suomi striker Oliver Kapanen unsuccessfully crashed into the side, injured his neck and remained motionless in the corner. As a result, he was able to leave the site only on a stretcher, and the pause lasted about ten minutes.

It would seem that this break should benefit the Russians, who have noticeably grown tired during their time in the minority. But in fact, the nominal owners rushed to compare the score. And they managed to score twice in just 69 seconds. In the first case, Ivanov coped with the long-range throw by Alexi Heimosalmi, but he could not prevent the finishing move performed by Ville Koivunen, and in the second he did not manage to move to the opposite corner. Lambert moved the puck well along the goal and helped Tuomaale Sam transfer the match into extra time.

Overtime turned out to be a nightmare for the Russians. In total, they spent in equal compositions only one minute out of five - and all because of two consecutive deletions of Svechkov. Already at the 15th second, the forward went to the penalty box for the bandwagon, and after serving the sentence, he was immediately fined for delaying the opponent with a stick. It is not surprising that the reigning vice-champions of the world practically did not leave their third of the site and never bothered Koskenvuo. But the Finns staged a real siege of Ivanov's goal and brought the difference in the number of shots on target to almost two times - 55:28.

At the cost of the incredible efforts of the goalkeeper, the Russian national team still held out, and the determination of the winner was delayed until the shootout. But there she was unable to impose a worthy struggle on her opponents. Domestic hockey players acted without invention and never managed to outplay the Finnish goalkeeper. But they twice left Ivanov out of work and prevailed in a tense meeting.