Russia Defeats Sweden For World Junior Bronze

Russia will win their seventh straight World Junior medal with a 2-1 victory over Sweden to win the bronze medal on Thursday.

The first period was extremely uneventful, with the Russians only registering three shots in the first period while allowing 15 to the Swedes. Ilya Samsonov had to be strong, making many tough stops along the way, but Sweden's inability to take advantage of a one-sided first period meant that the second period was going to be tough on both sides.

Despite the good start, the Swedes would allow the first goal. Just 16 seconds into the second period, Kirill Kaprizov made Rasmus Dahlin and Jacob Larsson look goofy after beating them both on the rush, then picking up his own rebound while the two defenders stood still. Kaprizov was able to grab his tournament-leading ninth goal of the tournament, putting the Russians ahead 1-0 after just four shots.

A terrible giveaway with 10:11 complete in the second saw the Swedes tie the game up at one. Yegor Rykov failed to send the puck out of the zone, allowing Jonathan Dahlen to poke the puck into the net. Samsonov wasn't expecting the puck to be given away that easily and let it slide through his legs, putting Sweden on the board for the first time.

Samsonov had to play strong, despite getting run into twice. By the end of 60 minutes, it was clear the Washington Capitals prospect was hurting, yet somehow stayed in the game for overtime. He didn't need to do much in the extra frame, as Denis Guryanov stole the puck from Alex Nylander in the Swedish zone and tucked it under the Sandstrom's pad to hand Sweden their third straight four-place finish and give the Russians the bronze medal.

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