Russian power play ends American repeat hopes

If there was one quarterfinal matchup of this World Junior Championship that was tough to pick a winner, it was the first one at Malmö Isstadion between the USA and Russia. The defending gold medalists, the Americans won their first three games in dominant fashion before finishing second in their group after a close loss to Canada. The Russians, meanwhile, were equally dominant in their first game before falling to Finland and Sweden, pushing them down to third.

The game was decided by the slightest of margins. A string of penalties late in the second period that netted the Russians two goals to to tie the game, then take the lead. The Americans were unable to equalise after that.

The first period was wide-open, with the teams trading chances and goals. Both teams scored twice in a span of 5:05, with Mikhail Grigorenko and Pavel Buchnevich giving the Russians the lead, and the Americans tying quickly each time courtesy of Stefan Matteau and Ryan Hartman. The Americans then took their first lead of the game when Nicolas Kerdiles knocked the puck out of the air and fired a wrister past Andrei Vasilevsky with 3:09 to go in the period.

After the loosey-goosey first period, in which the Americans outshot the Russians 17-13, the game slowed down considerably in the second period, and it seemed to be going according to plan for the USA, before they hit a major bump in the road.

While on the power play, Matteau tried to cut through the defence and inadvertently upended a Russian penalty killer, drawing a minor penalty for tripping at 32:23. Then just after the Russians got back to full strength, Thomas DiPauli tried to thwart a Russian rush into the zone and was called for hooking, giving them a two-man advantage.

It didn't take long after that. Anton Slepyshev and Nikita Zadorov played pitch-and-catch with the puck at the point, finishing with a fake shot from Slepyshev and a pass that Zadorov drilled through a crowd and inside the far post to tie the score.

"I actually thought the first guy (Slepyshev) had shot it," goaltender Jon Gillies said afterward. "Then by the time I realised he hadn't and the other guy was shooting, it was already by me."

But the worst was yet to come for the Americans. Just after the puck was dropped at centre ice, it went into the American zone and, still on the penalty kill, defenceman Steven Santini tried to hammer it down into the Russian zone but got too much height on it, and it sailed over the end glass and into the netting, drawing a minor penalty for delaying the game.

Back on the five-on-three, the Russians went back to the very same play -- Slepyshev to Zadorov for the one-time slapper and the goal.

"We've had a lot of practice on the power play," said Zadorov afterward. "We got players in front and he gave me a really nice pass," he said, motioning to Slepyshev, the Russian captain who was standing next to him. With an assist also on Grigorenko's first-period goal, Slepyshev had three in the game.

"You're talking about a three-minute span that decided the game," said US coach Don Lucia, trying to offer an explanation as to how his team could be finished this tournament so quickly. "You look at what happened in that time -- I mean a guy's just tying to ice the puck on the penalty kill and it goes over the short glass at the other end."

"It's tough to have that happen but, I mean, we got chances on the power play too," said Matteau. 

Indeed they did, but they didn't score or even get much going on them. After going 11-for-19 in their first three games, they went 0-for-3 against Canada on Tuesday and then 0-for-5 this game, including three after the Russians scored the fourth goal.

The Americans led 9-3 in third period shots against a Russian team that went into a shell, but Vasilevsky got plenty of help from his team, not having to make any spectacular saves in the final frame.

Then when Matt Grzelcyk blew a tire while turning with the puck in the last minute, Buchnevich scored his second of the game into the empty net, punching the Russians' ticket into the semifinals.

"Of course we will beat Sweden," said a confident Zadorov after the game, seemingly unaware that the team that beat them in the group stage still has their own semifinal to get through -- against Slovakia.

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