Do svidaniya Russia

The dream of a nation ends in a dismal afternoon in Sochi. That gold medal Russia was obliged to conquer will end on someone else neck, maybe on the Finns one, a solid strong team that brutally interrupted the race of Bilyaletdinov team, roundly booed in the last minutes by disappointed fans who had come from all over Russia to witness a historic moment for the nation. That was the time for a test of maturity for Russia, never convincing in its campaign until now, despite the last victory and Finland is exactly the most difficult opponent possible, a solid team with a great tradition in Olympics. Both coaches confirmed the expected roster, with Tukka Rask and Semyon Varlamov in the goal. No clue if it’s by chance, but none of the referees is American, after the harsh controversy in the game vs US. "We don't have the personal individual skill level as Canadians or Russians, we have to play really well as a team, keep them to the outside, it worked really well against Canada. Despite a few turnovers, we didn't give up much. That's how we got to play today" said Finnish goalie Tuukka Rask before the game, and that's exactly what Finland does

The most awaited game is on!

Arena has a start after three minutes when a shot by Kulyomin is controlled with some difficulty by Raask and holds its breath when Finland earns first power play and Varlamov blocked a missile by Sami Vatanen. Inspired Radulov hunts pucks and jostles in front of Raask cage, Ovechkin and Markov try for long-range finding Finnish goalie deflections. In the first minutes Russia is certainly a more determinate team but Finland isn’t Slovenia or Norway and retorts each and every point. Power play finally makes the difference and Russia opens the score with Ilya Kovalchuk at 07:51, assisted by Pavel Datsyuk. Three minutes and Finland ties with Juhamatti Aaltonen: after a penetration in Russian defense his shot passes between the body and the arm of Varlamov in the silence of arena. Russia angrily floods in Finland defensive zone and Raask is called to some difficult saves on Medvedev and Popov. But also Varlamov has to work on dangerous blue-line shots by Vatanen. Radulov well assists Yemelin for a dangerous shot deflected by Raask. Game seems in the hands of Russia but with two minute to play Slava Voynov resoundingly lost a puck in his defense while Russia is attacking, Mikael Grandlund flies to Varlamov and assists captain Teemu Selanne for 2-1 Finland.

Russia attacks

The second period opens with Alexei Yemelin leaving the ice bleeding for a casual hit received by Korpikoski. With Yemelin out and Ovechkin in the sin-bin, Finland scores again with an action well prepared by Selanne and finalized by the talent of Mikael Granlund, able to dodge Varlamov and deposit in the net. Quite surprisingly Bilyaletdinov replaces Varlamov, getting out grumbling, with Bobrovski but Russia suffers the blow and can’t react in the central part of the period, wakening around 30 minute when Syomin has a great chance stopped by a coming out of Rask. Finnish goalie deflects a shot by Voinov during a dangerous power play in a deafening bedlam with all the arena pushing home team. But Russia doesn’t find the way to be really dangerous; Finnish defence manage to keep threats far from Raask cage. The begin of last period is a real siege by Russia to Finnish goal - meanwhile Finland looses Selanne, leaving the ice to come back minutes after – even if Raask has just a difficult save on Malkin. Along with the enthusiasm of fans, also energy of team Russia go away and the last minutes are a painful waiting for the inevitable, with Bobrovski twice making great saves to avoid a more bitter punishment. The game ends in a flood of tears and whistle, Russian players leave the ice bowed, while some “Suomi, Suomi” echoes in the arena

Game over, Finland flies to semifinal

Russia is out

Captain Teemu Selanne, as a warlord, is the first to face journalists: "We had nothing to lose. We were not supposed to win. They had all the pressure. I think they were out of gas a little bit, and we tried to take advantage of that, and the game plan worked. This is a huge win. Obviously, we were not favourites, but you've got to believe. The gap between the number one and number five team in the standings is not very big. We knew that they played four games in five nights, and we might have a little more extra jump than them. We had to make sure they had to grind every opportunity for what they get, and I think it worked."

Defender Sami Vatanen caused troubles to Russian defence with long-range shots: Of course it's an amazing feeling. We did this together, we played a tight defence and we have one heck of a goalie. This will keep us pushing into the next game. Today showed us that we can score some goals too."

Russian players are obviously shocked by the result and with few words

Alexander Ovechkin: "It sucks, what can I say. No emotions right now. We had a good start, scored a powerplay goal, felt pretty good. But we made two mistakes that cost us the game. We tried to score another one, but despite all we tried, we couldn't score."

Sergei Bobrovski: "I just feel empty, disappointed and empty inside."

Pavel Datsyuk: "The emotion we feel right now is disappointment, disappointment that we didn't live up to the hopes placed on us. There were great hopes placed on us and we didn't live up to them. All the boys did all they could today. I don't know how long it will take me to get over this loss"

Anton Belov gives credit to the opponents: "They showed us how to play hockey. It was a team playing against us. The coaches asked us to play by the system and not invent anything, but each one of us wanted to save the situation and played individually. The Finns showed how to make passes and play as a team."

Vladimir Tarasenko closes properly this series of entries: "I don't know. It's always tough to lose the game in such a good tournament. There's not much to say, guys."

Russian cosch Zinetula Bilyaletdinov was immediately questioned about his future in the national team:"It doesn't matter to me, I'd like to stay, but the Federation will decide"

 

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