WHL Star Power thwarted by Russia’s Ivan Nalimov: Super Series 3 Stars

Buzzing The Net's 3 Stars from Game 5 of the Subway Super Series, won 3-2 by Russia over Team WHL. The Russians have won three straight and have a 16-13 edge in goals.

No. 1 Star - Ivan Nalimov, Russian Selects (SKA-1946, St. Petersburg)

You could perhaps pick apart the performance of one or two top defencemen, but you have to look no further than between the pipes to see why the Russian Selects have won three consecutive games in the Series. Team OHL out-shot Russia 43-22 in Game 3 and 52-23 in Game 4, with Team WHL out-shooting Russia 44-25 in Game 5. The CHL clubs have only scored six goals in that span.

It's not like Ivan Nalimov has had to fight off a bevy of chances, but the Western Hockey League selects got a few good looks against the Russians in the fifth game. Being junior hockey, where not every goal is going to be a Grade-A chance in front of the net, and goaltenders at this age are prone to the odd gaffe, you can't fault Nalimov for the quality of shots he's faced because he's been almost perfect on everything else. All that beat him Wednesday was a puck that hopped right onto Griffin Reinhart's stick, and a shorthanded breakaway. Nalimov had to be sharp late. He held firm against the post on a shot with 90 seconds left, pinning the puck until it was frozen before Nic Petan drove the net and poked it in, albeit after the whistle. Nalimov shook off that collision to rob Taylor Leier on the doorstep moments later.

Evaluating goaltenders is difficult, because some goalies make difficult saves look easy, and some manage the opposite, so all you can really look at is the saves a goalie makes. So far, through four games? Nalimov is 3-1 with a 2.25 goals against average and an incredible .945 save percentage.

No. 2 Star - Alexei Baskov, Russian Selects (Omskie Yastrebi, Omsk)

Baskov scored the winning goal in this one, and was the most dangerous forward for Russia, paired with the two Western Hockey League Russian players to join the team exclusively for the game in Red Deer, Seattle's Alexander Delnov and Saskatoon's Nikita Scherbak. While that line had its chances, the winning goal was mostly an individual effort, chipping the puck up by Kelowna defenceman Madison Bowey and sliding the puck past Tri-City's Eric Comrie, in net for the WHL in this one.

Otherwise, there wasn't a lot to speak of offensively, especially in the third period as the Russians really closed the game down. They generated just 8 shots in the third period, appearing to favour a more structured defensive game compared to the ones they played against the QMJHL and OHL, where the CHL teams were buzzing the net all night.

No. 3 Star - Taylor Leier, Team WHL (Portland Winterhawks)

If there was an upside for the WHL team in this one, it was their penalty kill. The Russians went 0-for-3 on the powerplay, and wound up with a negative goal differential with the extra man thanks to Leier's individual effort early in the second. He scored on a shorthanded breakaway, picking the puck off the twig of the pointman and making a deft little deke around Nalimov to tie the game at 2.

Leier was a big part on the WHL's PK, and probably had the WHL's best chance to tie the game in the third period on a diving effort in front, but was unfortunately stopped on that occasion by the big Russian netminder.

Game 6 is Thursday night in Lethbridge. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time.