Igor Bobkov slams the door, Russia skates past Finland in WJC’s second match (Photo © The Canadian Press)
With a phenomenal performance and 46 saves, goalkeeper Igor Bobkov left no way out to Finland as they couldn’t score for the whole game despite a complete control of the match for more than two periods. Finland’s inability to convert chances into goals costed them the game as Team Russia walked away with a comfortable 2-0 win in World Junior Championships‘ second match. Plyuschev team’s now tops Group B ranking, sharing the lead with Sweden, with six points in two matches.
In spite of Bobkov’s one-man show, Nikita Filatov has been elected as player of the game for Team Russia. He did play a great game, assisting on Petr Khokhryakov’s first goal of the night and scoring himself the second one with a rocket-like shot from the blue line.
Team Russia’s start was quite good as they got the go-ahead goal after six minutes only, when Petr Khokhryakov deflected in a superb pass from Nikita Filatov after a quick counterattack sparkled by Kirill Petrov. After this goal they held back and Finland started controlling the game rather easily, but without getting the puck past Bobkov. The referees were busy tonight as they whistled a combined total of 50 penalty minutes and this spoiled the flow of the game especially on the second and third periods.
Midway through the game Nikita Filatov, with the man advantage, made it a 2-0 game with a great blue line shot after a pass by Maxim Chudinov.
The rest of the match was pretty much a Finland vs Bobkov show, with the latter getting the victory, stealing the match for his team with a huge 46 saves performances.
Team Russia’s next game is scheduled for tomorrow against Team Sweden.