๐ท๐บ Russia 10-0 Italy ๐ฎ๐น
World Championship Preliminary Round
Zimnรฝ ล tadiรณn Ondreja Nepelu, Bratislava ๐ธ๐ฐ
Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Alexander Ovechkinโs scoring drought came to an end as Russia romped a record victory.
Since the break-up of the USSR, the Russian national team had twice won by nine-goal margins (12-3 vs. Great Britain in 1994, 10-1 against Italy in 2017) but this was the first time the post-Soviet Red Machine had achieved a 10-goal margin of victory in competitive play at World, Olympic or Euro Hockey Tour level. The final score of 10-0 was still some way short of the USSR’s best, a 28-2 hammering of Italy in 1967.
Ovechkinโs long-awaited first goal was one obvious highlight. The Capitals legend got Russiaโs fourth late in the first period, much to the joy of his fans in the Ondrej Nepela Arena. But there was much more to enjoy: the two Nikitas, Gusev and Kucherov, were on song once again, combining to create three of Russiaโs goals. Alexander Barabanovโs pace was an on-going threat, while Yevgeni Kuznetsov had a fine all-round game as he posted 2+2.
After finding the net, Ovechkin also found himself pursued by the media scrum after the game. Although the Russian team was clearly eager to finish the evening’s formalities as quickly as it disposed of the Italians, he shared a few thoughts.
“Of course, a win like this lifts our confidence,” he said. “But mostly I felt a bit sorry for the Italians tonight. They battled hard, they are good guys, but the different skill levels was immediately apparent.
“Scoring my first goal is just like ticking a box. I’ve done it, we’ll move on. What more can I say.”
Italyโs first task was to survive the first few shifts and frustrate Russia. That lasted for just 31 seconds. The Kucherov-Gusev axis came to the ice for the first time and the Italian defence was so concerned about closing those two that it left Nikita Zaitsev with all the time he could ask for to step up to the right circle and fire into the open side of Andreas Bernardโs net.
The two Nikitas combined for Russiaโs second goal, moving the puck around the Italian end and setting up Dinar Khafizullin as he stepped up from the blue line to shoot home from between the hash marks. 2-0 inside nine minutes and already the question was about how many Russia might score.
Italy last scored a top-level World Championship goal on 13 May 2017, early in a 1-4 loss to Germany. Since then it had gone without for 295 minutes ahead of this game โ but it came close to finding the net midway through the first period. Marco Rosa got on the end of an odd-man rush and squeezed a shot behind Andrei Vasilevski but the angle was too tight and the puck slipped across the face of the net to safety. It was Italyโs best chance of the first period.
If the Italians are enduring a World Championship scoring drought, Ovechkin was having similar problems here in Bratislava. The Great 8โs failure to score in Russiaโs first three games attracted plenty of discussion back home and it seemed to sum up his recent fortunes when his line grabbed Russiaโs third without his contribution. Barabanovโs pace down the left had the Italian defence all over the place and the SKA forward went behind the net before picking out Kuznetsov to make it 3-0.
At last, though, Oviโs moment arrived. Kuznetsov turned provider, swinging the puck along the diagonal for Ovechkin to smash home a one-timer from the left-hand dot. Bernard got a piece of it but couldnโt keep it out; the Italian goalieโs frustration was more visible than any relief on Ovechkinโs part.
Wave after wave of Russian offence crashed into the Italian net, but there was some relief for Italy in the final minute. Mikhail Sergachyovโs slap shot flew past Bernard but Gusevโs efforts to screen the goalie saw him take up a position on the paintwork; goalie interference, goal disallowed.
In the second period, Russia needed just 18 seconds to find the net. Again, it was a Capitals combination. Dmitri Orlov found Ovechkin, and he released Kuznetsov for a solo duel with Bernard. The goalie came off worst and was called to the bench to be replaced by Marco De Filippo.
The goals kept coming. Ilya Kovalchuk wired a wrister over De Filippoโs glove. Dadonov went close to grabbing the goal of the game after stickhandling to the net follow some sublime build-up play. He did not wait much longer, though, scoring on the power play after another deadly link-up from Gusev and Kucherov.
Even when short-handed, Russia was dangerous. Anisimov sat for tripping, Barabanov led a breakaway but seemed to have lost out when one trick too many against Alex Trivellato left both players stepping away from the puck. But Barabanov recovered possession and found Mikhail Grigorenko on the doorstep for a simple finish to make it 8-0 at the end of the second period.
The third period saw Kucherov add a goal to his earlier hat-trick of assists. A rather tired-looking Italian defence created little puck pressure and the Lightning forward was able to get a centre point shot past De Filippo on the glove side. Within a minute Dadonov brought up double figures โ and collected his sixth of the tournament โ when he retrieved the puck from the skates of an Italian defenceman and put it in the net. That opened the record-breaking 10-goal margin for Russia, but it took the crossbar to keep that lead fully intact after Diego Kostner’s shot evaded Vasilevski only to fly to safety off the piping.
The Russian goalie acknowledged that, after his heroics against the Czechs, facing Italy brought a very different kind of challenge. “For me, in some ways, this was a tough game,” he said. “I didn’t face many shots, I was getting cold out there, but I had to stay focussed because the Italians were getting some counter-attacks.
“In the end, I wasn’t too worried if we allowed a goal at the end – ultimately, what difference does it make to win 10-0 or 10-1? The main thing is to win the game.”
To their credit, the Italians kept battling to the end and launched several crowd-pleasing attempts on goal in the closing stages. However, there would be no consolation goal as Russia secured a third shutout in a row and improved to four wins from four. Italy remains at the foot of the Group B table with no points and no goals from four games. Upcoming encounters with Norway and Austria, also winless, will determine the outcome of the relegation battle.
BOXSCORE
1st Period
00:31 – ๐ท๐บ GOAL – Zaitsev (Gusev, Kucherov)
01:41 – ๐ฎ๐น PEN – Tauferer, tripping
04:21 – ๐ท๐บ PEN – Barabanov, hooking
08:30 – ๐ท๐บ GOAL – Khafizullin (Gusev, Kucherov)
13:15 – ๐ท๐บ GOAL – Kuznetsov (Barabanov)
16:14 – ๐ท๐บ GOAL – Ovechkin (Kuznetsov)
2nd Period
20:18 – ๐ท๐บ GOAL – Kuznetsov (Ovechkin, Orlov)
26:03 – ๐ท๐บ GOAL – Kovalchuk (Kuznetsov)
32:41 – ๐ฎ๐น PEN – team, too many players
33:41 – ๐ท๐บ PP GOAL – Dadonov (Kucherov, Gusev)
34:41 – ๐ท๐บ PEN – Anisimov, tripping
36:25 – ๐ท๐บ SH GOAL – Grigorenko (Barabanov)
37:29 – ๐ฎ๐น PEN – Marchetti, slashing
3rd Period
44:52 – ๐ท๐บ GOAL – Kucherov (Khafizullin, Zaitsev)
45:27 – ๐ท๐บ GOAL – Dadonov (Kovalchuk)
59:56 – ๐ฎ๐น PEN – Trivellato, holding
GOALTENDERS
W:ย ๐ท๐บ Vasilevski (15-15)
L: ๐ฎ๐นย Bernard (14-19), De Filippo (16-21)
SHOTS ON GOAL
๐ท๐บย 18+9+13 = 40
๐ฎ๐น 5+5+5 = 15
ROSTERS
๐ท๐บ Goaltenders: Alexander Georgiev, Andrei Vasilevski. Defence: Vladislav Gavrikov, Dinar Khafizullin, Nikita Nesterov, Dmitri Orlov, Mikhail Sergachyov, Nikita Zadorov, Nikita Zaitsev. Forwards: Sergei Andronov, Artyom Anisimov, Alexander Barabanov, Yevgeni Dadonov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Gusev, Kirill Kaprizov, Ilya Kovalchuk (C), Nikita Kucherov, Yevgeni Kuznetsov, Yevgeni Malkin (A), Alexander Ovechkin (A), Ivan Telegin.
๐ฎ๐น Goaltenders: Andreas Bernard, Marco De Filippo. Defence: Armin Helfer (A), Armin Hofer, Stefano Marchetti, Sean McMonagle, Jan Pavlu, Ivan Tauferer, Alex Trivellato (C), Luca Zanatta. Forwards: Raphael Andergassen, Anthony Bardaro, Ivan Deluca, Markus Gander, Peter Hochkofler, Diego Kostner, Simon Kostner, Marco Insam (A), Alex Lambacher, Angelo Miceli, Joachim Ramoser, Marco Rosa.
๐ท๐บ RUSSIA (C) | vs. | ITALY ๐ฎ๐น |
current champion (since 05 May 2019) |
Last Title | 13 May 2014 |
455 | All-Time Wins |
1 |
7 wins | Head-To-Head (+ 1 tie) |
0 wins |
First IHLC Meeting (RUS vs. ITA) ๐ท๐บย URS 28-2 ITAย ๐ฎ๐น โ 26 Dec 1967 โ WBM โ Colorado Springs ๐บ๐ธ |
||
Previous IHLC Meeting (RUS vs. ITA) ๐ท๐บย RUS 7-1 ITAย ๐ฎ๐น โ 02 May 2008 โ WC โ Quรฉbec ๐จ๐ฆ |
||
Last IHLC Game ๐ท๐บ RUS 3-0 CZE ๐จ๐ฟ โ 13 May 2019 โ WC โ Bratislava ๐ธ๐ฐ |
||
Next IHLC Game ๐ท๐บ RUS 3-1 LAT ๐ฑ๐ป โ 18 May 2019 โ WC โ Bratislava ๐ธ๐ฐ |
Article Credit: IIHF Worlds 2019
Photo Credit: IIHF Worlds 2019 – IIHF – HHOF – IOC