🇷🇺 Russia 4-1 Czechia 🇨🇿
Channel One Cup
CSKA Arena, Moscow 🇷🇺
Saturday, 19 December 2020

In a gritty battle, Russia produced a resolute defensive performance to defeat the Czech Republic in Moscow, earning a 4-1 victory to make it two wins in two matches at the 2020 Channel One Cup.

The tournament is the second stage of the 2020-21 Euro Hockey Tour.

The Czechs made the faster start at the Legends Park. Nevertheless, after failing to take advantage of any of their several promising opportunities during the opening stages, they were promptly punished by the Russians who scored twice within the space of three minutes.

In space at the high slot, Anton Burdasov beat the unsighted Roman Will with a low wrister, before Andrei Kuzmenko scored with an almost identical attempt to double Russia’s money. Igor Ozhiganov came close to a third moments later on the powerplay as his effort struck the left post with the goalkeeper beaten.

The Czech Republic, however, responded well and halved the deficit in the 16th minute with Traktor Chelyabinsk forward Lukas Sedlák firing a rising wrist shot over Alexander Samonov’s blocker.

Feeling more confident, the opponents subsequently went on to dominate the second frame, outshooting Russia 13-5 as they protected the puck in the attacking zone for long periods. As our players struggled to cope with the Czechs’ pace, Samonov had to be at his best for the Russians, with the SKA Saint Petersburg goaltender conjuring up a series of alert stops to protect the slender one-goal advantage.

At the other end, Dmitry Voronkov and Ivan Morozov did have a pair of chances on the slot, however they couldn’t hit the jackpot with only the goalkeeper to beat.

With the match finely balanced, the next goal was always going to prove crucial, and Russia tallied it with a mere 50 seconds on the clock in the third period.

Skating unchallenged to the doorstep, Maxim Maxin connected with a low pass across the crease, gently knocking the puck under Will to bring the arena to its feet.

Throughout the majority of the stanza, Russia had to rely on Samonov to keep the lead intact, with our goalkeeper successfully standing tall to the challenge and the pipe coming to his rescue on one occasion. In the 56th minute, Czech forward Dominik Lakatoš handed our team a chance to make it 4-1 after he gave up a penalty shot for holding, but Denis Zernov couldn’t convert the opportunity.

However, the hosts weren’t to be denied their fourth goal, as Mamin expertly hit the empty net two minutes later after Will had been swapped for the extra skater.

Russia will now prepare to face Finland tomorrow in the third and concluding game of the competition.

BOXSCORE
1st Period
00:47 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Yudin, holding
06:54 – 🇷🇺 GOAL – Burdasov (Ozhiganov, Samorukov)
09:44 – 🇷🇺 GOAL – Kuzmenko (Morozov)
10:08 – 🇨🇿 PEN – Sedlák, holding
15:11 – 🇨🇿 GOAL – Sedlák (Sklenička, Lenc)
16:55 – 🇨🇿 PEN – Knot, checking to the head minor + 10 min. misconduct
19:49 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Antipin, holding

2nd Period
27:50 – 🇨🇿 PEN – Lenc, unsportsmanlike conduct
27:50 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Karnaukhov, holding
28:42 – 🇨🇿 PEN – Šustr, hooking

3rd Period
40:50 – 🇷🇺 GOAL – Mamin (Chibisov, Marchenko)
41:24 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Yudin, high sticking
44:55 – 🇨🇿 PEN – Jašek, holding
47:41 – 🇨🇿 PEN – Košťálek, slashing
55:03 – 🇷🇺 PEN SHOT – Chibisov stopped
57:08 – 🇷🇺 EN GOAL – Mamin

GOALTENDERS
W: 🇷🇺 Samonov (32-33)
L: 🇨🇿 Will (19-22)

SHOTS ON GOAL
🇷🇺 7+5+11 = 23
🇨🇿 10+13+10 = 33

ROSTERS
🇷🇺 Goaltenders: Ivan Fedotov, Alexander Samonov. Defence: Viktor Antipin, Alexei Marchenko, Igor Ozhiganov, Rushan Rafikov, Dmitri Samorukov, Yegor Yakovlev (A), Dmitri Yudin. Forwards: Anton Burdasov (A), Andrei Chibisov, Alexander Kadeikin, Pavel Karnaukhov, Andrei Kuzmenko, Maxim Mamin, Ivan Morozov, Vadim Shipachyov (C), Nikita Soshnikov, Vladimir E. Tkachyov, Sergei Tolchinski, Dmitri Voronkov, Denis Zernov.
🇨🇿 Goaltenders: Šimon Hrubec, Roman Will. Defence: Daniel Gazda, Ronald Knot, Jan Košťálek, Dominik Mašín, David Sklenička, Andrej Šustr (A), Ondřej Vitásek. Forwards: Lukáš Jašek, Dmitrij Jaškin, David Kaše, Petr Kodýtek, Dominik Lakatoš, Radan Lenc (A), Jan Mandat, Andrej Nestrašil (C), Lukáš Radil, Lukáš Rousek, Lukáš Sedlák, David Šťastný, Patrik Zdráhal.

Article Credit: FHR
Photo Credit: FHR – IIHF – HHOF – IOC