The youth world championship in Canada did not start very well for the Russian national team.
She was defeated by Sweden with a score of 3: 6 and made an unforgivable number of deletions, having conceded four goals at once in unequal compositions.
The meeting with Switzerland was an excellent opportunity to rehabilitate himself in front of the fans.
Alpines at the world championships, as a rule, do not grab the stars from the skies and are most often content with reaching the quarterfinals.
Last year they took the last place in the group at all.
And before the start of the current tournament, the team of Marco Bayer also suffered a serious loss.
The captain of last year's team, Simon Knack, passed positive tests for coronavirus.
For this reason, he will not help partners in Edmonton.
And the statistics of head-to-head meetings were completely on the side of the "Red Machine": 16 wins with two draws and a single defeat.
However, the headquarters of Sergei Zubov had enough of its own headache.
First of all, it was about the goalkeeper's line.
Yaroslav Askarov did not play very well with Canada in a friendly match and conceded three goals from Sweden, after which he was replaced in the second break.
As a result, the coach, as expected, made a bet on his replacement, Yegor Guskov from Lokomotiv, who was also upset three times the day before.
Changes have also taken place in the composition of the links.
The third was almost completely rebuilt.
Egor Savikov made a pair of Vladimir Grudinin in defense.
Danila Yurov and Vasily Ponomarev played in the attack along with Pavel Tyutnev.
The fourth were Kirill Steklov, Dmitry Zlodeev, Ivan Zinchenko, Nikita Guslistov and Ivan Didkovsky, who missed the first game.
But the first and second did not touch the teeth.
Fortunately, the fate of the confrontation was practically decided in the first period.
The Swiss, as expected from the first moments, retreated to the defense and settled tightly in their zone, trying to leave the opponent a minimum of space in the center.
Therefore, the Russians were forced to attack more with their flanks.
There the offensive, as a rule, gradually faded away, since there were no worthy addressees for transmission.
On the other side, the Alps found themselves infrequently and patiently waited for mistakes.
Soon such a chance presented itself to them.
Nicholas Bechler fled almost to a rendezvous with Guskov, but he helped out his partners.
Immediately Zubov's wards managed to open an account.
As in the meeting with Sweden, luck helped them.
Yurov, after Nikita Chibrikov's solo pass, made a throw from an average distance towards the goal.
Perhaps Kevin Pasche would have dealt with him if not for the double ricochet.
As a result, the projectile dived exactly into the near corner.
Having scored, the Russians felt confident and caught the courage.
The favorite started to succeed in almost everything: combinations in the central zone, bold raids on the half-site, unexpected feints and clicks.
Therefore, no one was surprised by the goal of Dmitry Zlodeev in the 16th minute.
He dragged the projectile along the side and made a Michkov-style throw from a negative angle.
Then he himself played well on the rebound and on the second try sent the puck into the net.
Then Tyutnev realized his moment, leaving no chance for Pasha with his brushes - 3: 0.
In this episode, Yurov managed to record an assist as an asset.
The only fly in the ointment was Attilio Biasca's goal shortly before the siren.
A rare counterattack of the opponent ended with an accurate throw from the attacker.
He did not look unbearable, but the puck went under the trap of Guskov, who was bored for most of the period in his half.
The second twenty minutes turned out to be much less successful for the favorite.
No sooner had the hockey players returned to the ice than the Swiss almost reduced the gap in the long run to a minimum.
Matvey Michkov fell under a tough forceful reception on the other side, and the Alpines organized a two-on-one attack.
Fortunately, the puck hit the post after Joshua Fakhrni flicked.
The Russians responded with a scattering of their own moments.
They, as in the first period, were aimed at a shot and at every opportunity tried to hit someone else's goal.
However, Pasha acted above all praise on the last frontier.
That is worth at least his save after shooting Zlodeev point-blank.
Kevin managed to move and miraculously saved the partners.
The first sending-off in the match did not help Zubov's team either.
Attilio Biasca received a two-minute penalty.
The domestic team not only did not create anything in unequal compositions, but also almost missed.
Now Christophe Cavalleri rushed off to a rendezvous with Guskov, but Grudinin managed to prevent him at the last moment.
In the future, the "Red Machine" continued to possess an undeniable advantage and increased the number of shots. But in general, hockey in her performance looked somewhat chaotic. It seemed that each performer individually strove to demonstrate their skills. There was no talk of team interactions. Even the representatives of the leading link Michkov - Semyon Demidov - Marat Khusnutdinov, who did not score a single point for performance in 40 minutes, were not too noticeable. Matvey turned out to be more focused on the transfer, but the partners did not always understand his intentions.
The final period was not much different from the previous one, with the difference that the Alpines began to act more courageously.
They had nothing to lose, and therefore they went forward much more actively.
But still, the Russians continued to possess the advantage.
And it was they who could sooner bring the matter to defeat.
Pasha continued to keep the intrigue.
To begin with, he parried with his foot a sly throw from an uncomfortable hand performed by Ponomarev, and then threw himself with his chest under the click of Ivan Zinchenko.
Tyutnev gave the opponent an unexpected chance.
As in the confrontation with Sweden, he grabbed an absolutely unnecessary sending-off for breaking the rules in the opponent's half and went to the penalty box.
Most of the Swiss acted imperfectly, but a couple of times they still disturbed Guskov.
And at the end of this segment, Zubov's charges were again saved by the stand.
With each new attack, Marco Bayer's team felt more and more self-confidence and understood that it was possible to fight this Russian team.
Fortunately, the first link reminded of itself at the right moment.
Khusnutdinov, in a fast break, dragged the projectile along the starboard side and passed the pass to the center to Demidov, who instantly redirected the puck to Michkov's far post.
Matvey perfectly closed his partner's cross and scored the third goal in the tournament.
It seemed that all questions about the outcome of the meeting were resolved.
However, the ending was unexpectedly difficult for the favorite.
A minute and 15 seconds before the final siren, Fabian Ritzman, using Dario Allenshpach's throw from the side, ferried the puck between the shields to Guskov.
The coaching staff of the national team asked to watch the replay in the hope of an offside position.
The judges quickly assessed the situation and awarded a goal.
And the Swiss got the majority due to the unused challenge of the rival.
Of course, they immediately removed the goalkeeper, remaining six against four outfield.
However, the Russians acted calmly and selflessly and did not allow their opponent to revive the intrigue.
Thus, the national team won the first expected victory in the second match at the MFM.
At the same time, the game in her performance again turned out to be imperfect.
Raised questions and two missed washers.
Guskov, having received a chance, failed to take advantage of it.
On the other hand, Yurov, who scored two points, and Michkov, who again upset his opponent, made me happy.