🇨🇦 Canada 3-0 Russia 🇷🇺
Canada / Russia Super Series, Game 2
Ufa Arena, Ufa 🇷🇺
Wednesday, 29 August 2007

Team Canada knew they would have the size advantage, and the physical play advantage, going into the Canada / Russia Super Series, but it was their skill that carried them to a 3-0 victory in Game 2 on Wednesday.

Kyle Turris and David Perron combined on a give-and-go for Canada’s opening goal, Stefan Legein – Canada’s Player of the Game – and Brandon Sutter did the same on goal number two, and Perron did it all himself to round out the scoring as the Canadians swept both games in Ufa, Russia and took a 2-0 series lead.

Jonathan Bernier turned aside all 23 shots he faced to record the shutout, continuing the strong goaltending started by Steve Mason in Canada’s 4-2 Game 1 win on Monday.

The Canadians dominated the final two-and-a-half periods of Game 1, and continued that dominance in the opening 20 minutes of Game 2, outshooting the Russians 11-4.

Sutter set the tone early in the period when he steamrolled Russian superstar Alexei Cherepanov in the Canadian zone, as Canada’s checking line of Sutter, Legein and captain Milan Lucic continued to smother Russia’s top players.

The physical play contributed to a much more emotional game than the series opener, with a number of skirmishes after the whistle.

“You knew things were going to heat up,” Legein said. “Emotions are running high, but you have to try to not get involved too much, and just play your game.”

The Canadians were rewarded for their constant pressure in the opening 20 minutes when Turris fed the puck in the corner to Perron, who out-waited a Russian defender before returning the favour to a streaking Turris. The Phoenix Coyotes draft pick (3rd overall, 2007) pulled the puck to the backhand and beat Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovski for his second goal in as many games.

The Canadians were unlucky not to increase their lead in the first and second periods, as a number of quality chances went unfinished in front of Bobrovski, including numerous chances by the line of Sam Gagner, Brad Marchand and Claude Giroux, who controlled the puck in the Russian zone for more than a minute during one shift.

After their physical play gave the Canadians the advantage early, the checking line chipped with some offence in the final minute of the second frame, as Legein finished off a give-and-go with Sutter by snapping the puck short side over the glove of Bobrovski.

Looking to increase the lead to three early in the final period, the Canadians once again kept constant pressure on the Russians in their own zone, but could not beat Bobrovski, who played well in making 35 saves.

Perron put the final nail in the Russian coffin with just 2:01 to go, picking up a loose puck at the Canadian blue line and steaming around the Russian defender, taking the puck to the net.

Although his first opportunity was turned away by Bobrovski, the St. Louis Blues first-rounder (26th overall, 2007) somehow found a way to backhand the puck into the goal, even with his back to the net, scoring undoubtedly the goal of the series thus far.

Both teams will now pack their bags and head east to Siberia for Games 3 and 4 in Omsk, set for Friday and Saturday, before returning to Canada for the series’ final four games.

The game had to be delayed twice – once in the second period and once more in the third – because of a build-up of fog on the ice. The arena in Ufa is brand-new, having opened for Game 1 on Monday, and the air conditioning system in the building is not yet functioning.

“It’s hard to play in the fog,” Legein said, “but you just have to deal with it, and hopefully it goes away.”

BOXSCORE
1st Period
02:13 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Legein, high sticking
07:08 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Sutter, charging
07:31 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Chudinov, tripping
13:26 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Doronin, holding
14:42 – 🇨🇦 PP GOAL – Turris (Perron, Tavares)
18:26 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Zubov, holding

2nd Period
20:38 – 🇨🇦 PEN – team, too many players
27:31 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Chudinov, tripping
34:21 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Legein, roughing
34:21 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Doronin, roughing
34:21 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Lucic, roughing
39:45 – 🇨🇦 GOAL – Legein (Sutter, Lucic)

3rd Period
47:40 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Marchand, 10 min. misconduct
49:03 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Giroux, roughing
49:03 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Glovatski, roughing
49:55 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Tavares, slashing
49:55 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Grishin, cross checking
50:50 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Kurbatov, roughing
51:04 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Glovatski, roughing
52:06 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Perron, roughing
55:26 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Legein, boarding
55:26 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Kulikov, roughing
57:59 – 🇨🇦 GOAL – Perron (Boychuk)

GOALTENDERS
W: 🇨🇦 Bernier (23-23)
L: 🇷🇺 Bobrovski (34-37)

SHOTS ON GOAL
🇨🇦 11+17+9 = 37
🇷🇺 4+10+9 = 23

ROSTERS
🇨🇦 Goaltenders: Jonathan Bernier, Leland Irving, Steve Mason. Defence: Karl Alzner (A), Drew Doughty, Keaton Ellerby, Josh Godfrey, Thomas Hickey, Logan Pyett, Luke Schenn, Ty Wishart. Forwards: Zach Boychuk, Cory Emmerton, Sam Gagner (A), Colton Gillies, Claude Giroux, Zach Hamill, Stefan Legein, Milan Lucic (C), Brad Marchand, David Perron, Brandon Sutter (A), John Tavares, Kyle Turris, Dana Tyrell.
🇷🇺 Goaltenders: Sergei Bobrovski, Semyon Varlamov, Vadim Zhelobnyuk. Defence: Yuri Alexandrov (C), Maxim Chudinov, Pavel Doronin, Alexei Grishin, Yevgeni Kurbatov, Kirill Tulupov, Ivan Vishnevski, Vyacheslav Voinov, Yegor Zubov. Forwards: Artyom Anisimov, Ruslan Bashkirov, Yevgeni Bodrov, Alexei Cherepanov, Yevgeni Dadonov, Anton Glovatski, Mikhail Glukhov, Ilya Kablukov, Konstantin Kulikov, Maxim Mamin, Maxim Mayorov, Alexander Ryabev, Vyacheslav Solodukhin, Viktor Tikhonov, Alexander Vasyunov.

Article Credit: Hockey Canada