BUFFALO, NY-Russia shocked and stunned 19,000 mostly Canadian fans, the press box and Team Canada with a five goal outburst in the third period to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win the International Ice Hockey Federation’s U20 WJC Championship gold medal game 5-3. Canada simply collapsed after dominating the first 40 minutes of the game. It is the first Russian gold medal at the WJC since 2003. The Russians who patented the art of comebacks in this tournament won their third straight game after trailing badly in each game. It was another bitter loss for Team Canada after last year’s medal gold game loss to the USA.
In other action Team USA bested Sweden 4-2 to claim the bronze medal. Chris Kreider scored twice and goal tender Jack Campbell stopped 34 shots for the win. The victory gave the Americans their fourth bronze medal in U20 competition. Even though the third place finish here was bittersweet especially after last year’s gold medal win it marked the first time Americans have won back to back medals at the WJC. It is the first WJC medal won by a USA U20 team on home soil.
Gold Medal Game-Russia-5, Canada-3
The first four minutes saw the teams exchange scoring opportunities but the Canadians scored first on a power play as Brayden Schenn setup Ryan Ellis with a cross ice pass that he drilled past Russian goal tender Dmitri Shikin at 4:50 into the game. Calvin de Haan picked up the secondary assist. The goal came just after the Russians had several good opportunities against Canada’s starting goalie Mark Visentin.
The goal and the 1-0 lead energized an already boisterous pro Canadian crowd and Team Canada. They dominated play until the Russians gained their composure about ten minutes into the period. Both teams then created several opportunities but both Shikin and Visentin hung tough on great chances. The period appeared to be ending with a 1-0 Canadian lead as the Russians seemed to be turning the tide with a flurry of excellent opportunities including a shot off the cross bar.
Unfortunately for the Russians the period ended 2-0. A potentially back breaking goal came when heavy Canadian fore checking forced a turnover in the Russian zone with just 13.5 seconds left in the period. Louis LeBlanc a former Omaha Lancer star in the United States Hockey League stole the puck from the Russian defense behind the net and poked the puck out to Ashton Carter who beat Shikin on the glove side up high just inside the goal post for a 2-0 lead.
The late second period goal gave Canada a huge amount of momentum. In the first three minutes of the second period Shikin had to come up a number of big saves. Russia was able to survive a second Canadian power play but at 13:33 Brayden Schenn benefitted from more heavy fore checking. Schenn’s goal tied the Canadian record for WJC U20 scoring with the goal.
Almost all of the observers chalked this game into the Canadian win column on this third score. However the tide was about to turn although no one suspected. The goal chased Shikin from the net. In came Igor Bobkov the only Russian on their U20 team who plays in North America. He plays in the Ontario Hockey League with the London Knights.
Bobkov withstood an immediate flurry and two Canadian power plays over the next few minutes. His work and two penalties on Canada slowed Canada’s onslaught and also produced several Russian power play scoring chances. They could not cash however in despite several good scoring chances and the period ended 3-0.
The Bobkov changed the chemistry or the law of averages just caught up as two Russian goals eleven seconds apart early in the third period suddenly created a hockey match. First a long shot from the point by Maxim Berezin missed the net but was knocked down by Denis Golubev behind the net and centered out front to Antemi Panarin who hammered it home. The goal came at 2:33. A few heartbeats later Washington Capitals draft choice Yvgeni Kuznetsov set up Maxim Kitsyn for number two.
And the Russians were not finished. They stunned the crowd by tying the game at 7:29 when Vladimir Tarasenko blasted a one timer from the right hand circle that beat Visentin cleanly. His goal was also set up by Kuznetsov.
The 3-3 tie lasted until 15:22 when Russia struck again. Panarin got his second goal of the game jamming the puck past Visentin for the 4-3 lead. Hard work by Tarasenko and his pass set up the strike.
Canadian fans still held out hope but Bobkov continued to make saves and as importantly the Russians were suddenly dictating the play. They crushed all hope for Team Canada at the 18:44 mark when Nikita Dvurechenski got the fifth unanswered goal on a nifty pass by Kuznetsov.
Bronze Medal Game-Sweden-2, USA-4
The USA and Sweden played a hard fought but clean game today as the USA finally overcame a stubborn effort by the Swedes for the 4-2 win. The first period was a microcosm of much of the tournament for the Americans in that they played good defense and got a lot of shots on goal but could not score.
They opened strongly with five real scoring threats and 13 shots in the first period however Sweden’s goal tender Fredrik Peterson Wentzel stonewalled the Americans with a number of outstanding saves. The US goalie Jack Campbell was barely tested in the period as the Swedes were held to just five shots on goal. Neither team could capitalize on their power play opportunities as the USA went 0-3 in the period while Sweden went 0-2 on the man advantage.
Second period play was crisp and both teams executed well. It was scoreless until 11:58 when a backhander by Sweden’s Oscar Lindberg off his own rebound found the net. Carl Klingberg placed a slapper on net that Campbell blocked but gave up a rebound that went to Lindberg. He got a wrist shot away that Campbell sprawled on the ice to stop. However the puck rebounded right back to Lindberg and as he was falling he was able to backhand a shot from the corner of the crease and get his second goal of the tournament to bounce off Campbell.
The Americans followed the Swedish goal with a power play marker less than two minutes later. Forward Chris Kreider picked up the goal burying a wrist shot from about five feet out in the slot. The play started when Jon Merrill outworked a Swedish penalty killer on the near side boards and wrapped the puck around the boards to Chris Brown behind the net who centered the puck to Kreider for the 1-1 tie. The tie stood up going into the second intermission.
The USA took its first lead of the game 2-1 at 0:52 into the period. Drew Shore standing in front of the net redirected a blast from the left side point by defenseman Justin Faulk in traffic. Kyle Palmieri provided an up ice pass to Faulk for the secondary first assist. An almost mirror image of the preceding goal put the USA up 3-1. This time at the 11:40 mark Nick Bjugstad tipped another blast from the point by Nick Leddy. Ryan Bourque sprung Leddy with a nice pass out of the US zone and Leddy fired it on net as Bjugstad cruised in for the redirect.
Sweden however answered quickly. Jesper Fasth beat Campbell at 14:18 to draw within a goal at 3-2. Johan Larsson got the lone assist on the second Swedish goal. Next up however Kreider sealed the game for the USA with his second goal at 18:07. Palmieri and Brian Dumoulin picked up assists. The 4-2 lead stood up as the Swedes pulled their goalie for the extra attacker but could not dent the US defense.
In the post game bronze medal ceremony goal tender Jack Campbell was also recognized as the best player in the Tournament for Team USA. He stopped 34 of 36 shots on goal in today’s game while Petersson Wentzel made 40 saves on 44 of the shots he faced. Overall Campbell finished the tournament with a .940 save percentage and a goals against average of 1.70.
In Other News:
Switzerland finished in fifth place with a 3-2 win over Finland in a consolation battle. The IIHF also announced in a press release today that “The 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship in Buffalo and Niagara is the best attended IIHF international hockey event in United States history.”
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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