Advertisement

Russians celebrate ‘Super’ victory

Andrey Osadchenko

Team Russia won their first game in the Subway Super Series in Ontario with a 2-1 victory. What else is new? Well, here's a shortlist.

  • Igor Ustinski finally got a start for Russia after Andrei Vasilevski

    went 1-1 in the first two games allowing seven goals.

  • Alex Khokhlachev blocked Cody Ceci's shot late in the third with his head and stayed down for quite a while. He went straight to the dressing room with help from the Russian trainer. He dropped his mouth-guard on his way off the ice. He was diagnosed with a facial bruise.

  • If there's one thing to remember about Team Canada when you're Team Russia it's that the Canadians always start strong. That was the case in Game 3 as well. Proof? Russia was called for icing twice in the first 2:55 minutes of the game.

  • Brett Ritchie was quite helpful to Russia in this one. He ruined the OHL's momentum early in the first getting two minutes for a trip and then he cancelled his team's hopes of coming back by getting a checking from behind penalty in the neutral zone with 31 seconds on the clock. Oh, he also was minus-1.

  • Centre Andrei Sigarev has been promoted to the second line for Russia after having proven he's just too good for the bottom six.

  • The third game of the series has traditionally been an obstacle for Russia in recent years as they would run out of gas by the third period — that's when the fatigue factor really kicked in. It was reversed this time around. The OHL dominated in the first 20 minutes, the game evened up in the second and it was Russia with control in the last stanza. Still trying to predict the outcome of junior hockey games? This may be your cue to do something else instead.

  • Russia didn't have a clock in their dressing room so team GM Alexey Kochetkov had to run halfway across the arena with his iPhone ready every intermission. Yes, we're still in the 21st century and this still exists.

  • Nail Yakupov was called for tripping at 16:08 in the first period only to a wet towel waiting for him in the penalty box. He threw it aside in disgust. Funny how people don't like to wipe their faces with someone else's sweat, eh?

  • Guelph hosted its second Subway Super Series game in four years. Back in 2008 Team OHL won 6-3. Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion scored three goals and had four points that night, including a game-winning goal.

  • Russia continues to struggle on the power play as they went 0-for-3 in this one. Mikhail Varnakov's squad is now 1-for-13 in series. They were also scored against on the power play Thursday night.

  • The goals by Anton Shenfeld and Maxim Shalunov came just 24 seconds apart.

  • It's fair to say that Igor Ustinski was never really considered as a serious candidate for a World Juniors roster but with his spectacular 23 saves in Game 3, including two huge ones late in the first and the third, he certainly made a strong case.

  • That was Russia's first win over Team OHL in the history of the Subway Super Series. Their all-time record is now 1-17-1.

Team Russia won their first game in the Subway Super Series in Ontario. What else is new? Well, here's a shortlist.

· Igor Ustinski finally got a start for Russia after Andrei Vasilevski went 1-1 in the first 2 games allowing 7 goals.

· If there's one thing to remember about Team Canada when you're Team Russia it's that Canadians always start strong. That was the case in Game 3 as well. Proof? Russia had 2 icing in the first 2:55.

· Brett Ritchie was quiet beneficial for Team Russia in this one. He ruined Team OHL's momentum early in the first getting 2 minutes for a trip and then he cancelled his team's hopes of coming back getting a 2+10 in the neutral zone with 31 seconds on the clock. Oh, he also was minus-1.

· Center Andrei Sigarev has been promoted to the 2nd line of team Russia after having proven over and over again he's just too good for the bottom six.

· Third game of the series have been quiet an obstacle for Team Russia in recent years as they could get their legs running under them in the 3rd period — that's when the fatigue factor really kicked in. Frankly it was vice-versa this time around — Team OHL dominated in the first 20, the game evened up in the second and it was Team Russia with control in the last stanza. Still trying to predict the outcome of junior hockey games? This may be your cue to do something else instead.

· Team Russia didn't have a clock in their dressing-room so their GM Alexey Kochetkov had to run halfway across the arena with his iPhone5 ready every intermission. Yes, we're still in the 21st century and this anachronism still exists.

· Nail Yakupov got called for tripping at 16:08 in the first only to find out there was a wet towel waiting for him in the penalty box. He threw it aside with disgrace. Funny how people don't like to wipe their faces with someone else's sweat, eh?

· Gueplh hosted its second Subway Super Series game in four years. Back in 2008 Team OHL won 6:3. Cody Hodgson of Brampton Battalion scored three goals and had four points that night, including a game-winning goal.

· Russia continues to struggle on the powerplay as they went 0-for-3 in this one. Mikhail Varnakov's squad is now 1-for-13 in series. They were also scored against on the powerplay Thursday night.

· Anton Shenfeld's and Maxim Shalunov's goals came just 24 seconds apart.

· It's fair to say that Igor Ustinski was never really considered as a serious candidate for a World Juniors roster but with his spectacular 23 saves in Game 3, including two huge ones late in the first and the third, he certainly made a strong point.

· Alex Khokhlachev blocked Cody Ceci's shot late in the third with his head and stayed down for quite a while. He went straight to the dressing-room with Russia's trainer's help. He dropped his mouth-guard on his way off the ice. He was diagnosed with a hemorrhage. http://instagram.com/p/RzFAR7RnFc/

· That was Russia's first win over Team OHL in the history of the Subway Super Series. Their all-time record is now 1-17-1.