Gotta See It: Russia narrowly avoids another disaster

It takes some real skill to choke as good as these guys.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Gotta See It: Russia narrowly avoids another disaster
Keystone Press

Coming off a disappointing 4-2 loss to Canada in yesterday’s Semi-Final game at the IIHF World Championships, Russia BARELY eked out a bronze medal victory over Finland this morning. 

Up two goals in the third period yesterday, Russia absolutely choked and conceded four goals to Canada in the final frame to complete the collapse. Today, a similar fate looked as though it may play out. Up 4-0 on the Finns, the Russians surrounded three consecutive goals and were at real risk of losing their lead before head coach Oleg Znarok called a time out so that his team could regain their focus and composure. The tactic worked as Tampa Bay Lightning superstar increased the Russian’s lead to 5-3 with a wonderful individual effort.


While the Russians are happy to win gold, there was some clear disappointment at not playing for the gold medal. "We are happy with a bronze but not satisfied," said defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich. "We didn’t lose to Team Canada yesterday, we lost to ourselves. Canada was good, but we played a stupid third period. We didn’t play for the gold, but got a bronze."
 
Indeed, the Russians looked like they were trying their best to give away their bronze medal during today’s game. Unlike yesterday’s match against Canada however, the Russians managed to regain their composure and put the game out of reach for their opponents. Crisis averted… at least this time.

Source: Alex Nunn