🇷🇺 Russia 3-2 Canada 🇨🇦
World Junior Championship Gold Medal Game
Halifax Metro Centre, Halifax 🇨🇦
Sunday, 05 January 2003

For the second straight World Junior Championship on home soil, it was Russia playing spoiler for the hometown fans, as a late goal by captain Yuri Trubachyov, combined with a bulletproof defensive performance in the final period, delivered Russia their third World Juniors Gold, their 12th combined with Soviet wins, and saw Russia leave Nova Scotia with the International Hockey Lineal Championship in tow.

The Canadians and Russians started out at a modest pace before Russia opened the scoring eleven minutes in, with Andrei Taratukhin picking up his own rebound and beating Canadian keeper Marc-André Fleury blocker side, with Fleury well out of his crease. Canada only needed 44 seconds, however, to get on even ground, with Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau redirecting a Pierre-Marc Bouchard point shot through traffic, fooling Russian goalie Andrei Medvedev to even the score at 1-1, the score that would hold after 20 minutes.

Canada took the lead midway through the second on a Scottie Upshall power play tally, with Upshall banging in a Brooks Laich rebound past Medvedev after Laich was stopped one on one in close range to Medvedev, with Alexei Kaigorodov in the box for cross checking. Despite being outshot 24-20 after two periods, Canada made it to second intermission up 2-1, only twenty minutes away from their eleventh World Juniors Gold, and their first since 1997.

Russia, however, had other plans.

After Igor Grigorenko failed to convert on a nifty move from the corner on Fleury, Canada failed to clear the zone, leaving Grigorenko wide open with only Fleury to beat, completing a tic-tac-toe passing play from Taratukhin and Alexander Perezhogin to even the score just four minutes into the third period. Canada, again unable to exit the zone, which was becoming a recurring theme in the game, was made to pay with 9:51 remaining, as Alexander Polushin turned back on Fleury, failed a wraparound attempt, but easily picked up his own rebound, which he fed to a streaking Trubachyov, potting in the go-ahead goal past Fleury, who in another recurring theme, was way out of his own crease.

Canada, who tied with Russia at 21 goals for in the Preliminaries, and whose offence was a force to be reckoned with in Nova Scotia, only managed to put on four total shots on Medvedev in the final frame, with the Red Machine locking down Team Canada, even killing off a late Fedor Tyutin holding call with 3:02 remaining in regulation. A stunned Halifax crowd was left in silence as the final seconds wound down, with Canada’s Golden drought continuing for another year, this time in front of a crushed hometown audience.

With the win, Russia retains the International Hockey Lineal Championship, their 21st, which they won from Slovakia in the Preliminary Round and retained with wins over Belarus, Switzerland and Finland. The win improved Russia to 10-7-1-1 all-time against Canada in junior IHLC competition, a number which would dramatically shift in Canada’s favour later on in the early 2000’s. The win marked Russia’s 12th Gold Medal at the World Juniors, and second straight, but would stand as their last Gold until 2011. Russia would hold the IHLC until November 2003, dropping the title to Czechia at the end of the Four Nations Cup in Finland.

BOXSCORE
1st Period
02:31 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Artyukhin, high sticking
11:17 – 🇷🇺 GOAL – Taratukhin (Grigorenko, Perezhogin)
12:01 – 🇨🇦 GOAL – Parenteau (Bouchard, White)
12:51 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Tyutin, roughing
12:51 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Lupul, cross checking
17:05 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Trubachyov, hooking

2nd Period
32:05 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Roy, tripping
35:02 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Kaigorodov, cross checking
36:22 – 🇨🇦 PP GOAL – Upshall (Laich, Parenteau)

3rd Period
44:22 – 🇷🇺 GOAL – Grigorenko (Taratukhin, Perezhogin)
51:09 – 🇷🇺 GOAL – Trubachyov (Polushin, Tyutin)
52:29 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Upshall, elbowing
56:58 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Tyutin, holding

GOALTENDERS
W: 🇷🇺 Medvedev (22-24)
L: 🇨🇦 Fleury (28-31)

SHOTS ON GOAL
🇷🇺 14+10+7 = 31
🇨🇦 12+8+4 = 24

ROSTERS
🇷🇺 Goaltenders: Konstantin Barulin, Andrei Medvedev. Defence: Dimitri Fakhrutdinov, Denis Grebeshkov, Kirill Koltsov, Maxim Kondratiev, Konstantin Korneyev, Mikhail Lyubushin, Fedor Tyutin, Denis Yezhov. Forwards: Sergei Anchakov, Yevgeni Artyukhin, Igor Grigorenko, Alexei Kaigorodov, Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Perezhogin, Dmitri Pestunov, Alexander Polushin, Timofey Shishkanov, Andrei Taratukhin, Yuri Trubachyov (C), Nikolai Zherdev.
🇨🇦 Goaltenders: Marc-André Fleury, David LeNeveu. Defence: Brendan Bell, Carlo Colaiacovo, Steve Eminger, Alexandre Rouleau, Nathan Paetsch, Ian White, Jeff Woywitka. Forwards: Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Gregory Campbell, Boyd Gordon, Brooks Laich, Joffrey Lupul, Jay McClement, Daniel Paillé, Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau, Derek Roy, Matt Stajan, Jordin Tootoo, Scottie Upshall (C), Kyle Wellwood.

Photo Credit: Doc Player – IIHF – HHOF – IOC