photo: Chris Tanouye / HHOF-IIHF Images
A first-period flurry lifted ROC to a comfortable victory over Great Britain at Riga’s Olympic Sports Centre. Anton Burdasov led the way with two goals and Mikhail Grigorenko was on target again after his game-winner against the Czechs 24 hours earlier. But, despite the 1-7 scoreline, the Brits also had something to cheer when Liam Kirk, the first English-developed player to be drafted by an NHL team, scored his first goal at the World Championship.
For many, this was the biggest mismatch of the tournament. An ROC roster featuring Olympic champions came into the championship off the back of a full KHL season. The Brits, meanwhile, were unable to play their Elite League this season due to COVID restrictions and many players were limited to a few games in a hastily-organised four-team series last month. In addition, head coach Pete Russell missed the trip, leaving the squad in the hands of his assistants Corey Neilson and Adam Keefe.
Four goals in five first-period minutes highlighted the gulf between the two teams, with ROC effortlessly demonstrating why it is hotly-tipped for a medal here. It all started when David Phillips took a holding penalty. The Russian power play settled in and Anton Burdasov opened the scoring when he fired home from an acute angle after Mikhail Grigorenko’s dot-to-dot pass.
Almost immediately, GB got a power play of its own. However, a slow line change cost a short handed goal when Dmitri Voronkov won possession and set up Grigorenko from that same right-hand circle. ROC then killed the rest of the penalty and promptly extended its lead when Burdasov added a third from almost the same spot on Jackson Whistle’s glove side.
Whistle, who helped Nottingham Panthers win that Elite Series, was suffering a torrid time and when Alexander Barabanov sent Sergei Tolchinski streaking down the centre to make it 4-0 the Russians had four goals on six shots. Tolchinski, the Gagarin Cup MVP, came into the team following yesterday’s injury to Konstantin Okulov and turned on the gas to leave the British D trailing in his wake.
In a tournament that has already produced some big shocks, that ensured that ROC would not follow Canada and Sweden onto the list of Goliaths felled in the opening weekend. "We were always confident, we know we have an excellent team," Tolchinski said after the game. "We went out and played with total focus from the first minute. It was good that we scored early and we could build on that and deliver the win."
But after that blistering start, ROC slowed. Britain still had its hands full staying anywhere close to competitive, but managed to finish the first period on a high when Kirk got his country on the scoreboard. It was a well-worked power play goal, too, with Brendan Connolly holding the puck on the right-hand boards before slipping it to Robert Dowd. The long-serving Sheffield Steelers man gave an instinctive feed to Kirk, who returned to Sheffield for the Elite Series, and the Yorkshire-born youngster snaffled his first goal at this level. It was also a rare power play goal for the Brits, who failed to score in any of their 12 PP chances in Slovakia two years ago.
"It was always going to be a tough game and for us, we just wanted to compete for 60 minutes," Kirk said. "Way too many penalties definitely cost us but that’s our first game as a team. ROC had some exhibition games and that’s the first time we played a full game as a team this season, so it was definitely tough but we’re just gonna keep building on it and try to get better."
ROC captain Anton Slepyshev was happy with his team's performance, even if he was not overly impressed with the play from the British team.
"From our point of view it was a good first period, regardless of the level of the opposition," said ROC captain Anton Slepyshev. "But then Britain recovered and tried to prove something. I'm sure they can progress but at the moment with that roster I don't think they could compete in the KHL."
Once Whistle overcame those early jitters he performed bravely in the second period to keep the scoring down. As ROC looked to turn the screws, he was acrobatic around his crease – most notably on the PK after Ben Davies was called for delaying the game.
Indeed, Whistle made 19 successive stops before Pavel Karnaukhov added a fifth for the Russians when he collected a long past, shielded the puck from Dallas Ehrhardt and outwitted the British goalie before depositing the puck inside the post.
"I think three of those goals [that went against Whistle] were into empty nets, which is always hard for a goaltender," said GB coach Neilson. "Something we tried to do is cut down those back door plays and, once we did that, he was able to be a bit more aggressive and as a result he was able to make some big saves for us."
It says much for the depth of the Russians’ quality that Valeri Bragin was also able give Andrei Kuzmenko his first start of the tournament. The SKA forward showed his class when he potted a sixth goal for the Red Machine, combining a toe drag and a shot that came through Mark Richardson to beat Whistle.
The closing stages brought a seventh ROC goal when team captain Anton Slepyshev converted a Karnaukhov feed. The puck bounced out of the net and initially play continued but a video review confirmed that the CSKA Moscow forward had his first goal of the championship.
"The ref was behind the net and couldn’t see the puck so he thought it hit the crossbar. The officials couldn’t give it right away," Slepyshev reflected.
That completed the scoring as ROC makes it back-to-back wins in imposing fashion. Britain is back in action immediately with a game against Slovakia on Sunday.
For many, this was the biggest mismatch of the tournament. An ROC roster featuring Olympic champions came into the championship off the back of a full KHL season. The Brits, meanwhile, were unable to play their Elite League this season due to COVID restrictions and many players were limited to a few games in a hastily-organised four-team series last month. In addition, head coach Pete Russell missed the trip, leaving the squad in the hands of his assistants Corey Neilson and Adam Keefe.
Four goals in five first-period minutes highlighted the gulf between the two teams, with ROC effortlessly demonstrating why it is hotly-tipped for a medal here. It all started when David Phillips took a holding penalty. The Russian power play settled in and Anton Burdasov opened the scoring when he fired home from an acute angle after Mikhail Grigorenko’s dot-to-dot pass.
Almost immediately, GB got a power play of its own. However, a slow line change cost a short handed goal when Dmitri Voronkov won possession and set up Grigorenko from that same right-hand circle. ROC then killed the rest of the penalty and promptly extended its lead when Burdasov added a third from almost the same spot on Jackson Whistle’s glove side.
Whistle, who helped Nottingham Panthers win that Elite Series, was suffering a torrid time and when Alexander Barabanov sent Sergei Tolchinski streaking down the centre to make it 4-0 the Russians had four goals on six shots. Tolchinski, the Gagarin Cup MVP, came into the team following yesterday’s injury to Konstantin Okulov and turned on the gas to leave the British D trailing in his wake.
In a tournament that has already produced some big shocks, that ensured that ROC would not follow Canada and Sweden onto the list of Goliaths felled in the opening weekend. "We were always confident, we know we have an excellent team," Tolchinski said after the game. "We went out and played with total focus from the first minute. It was good that we scored early and we could build on that and deliver the win."
But after that blistering start, ROC slowed. Britain still had its hands full staying anywhere close to competitive, but managed to finish the first period on a high when Kirk got his country on the scoreboard. It was a well-worked power play goal, too, with Brendan Connolly holding the puck on the right-hand boards before slipping it to Robert Dowd. The long-serving Sheffield Steelers man gave an instinctive feed to Kirk, who returned to Sheffield for the Elite Series, and the Yorkshire-born youngster snaffled his first goal at this level. It was also a rare power play goal for the Brits, who failed to score in any of their 12 PP chances in Slovakia two years ago.
"It was always going to be a tough game and for us, we just wanted to compete for 60 minutes," Kirk said. "Way too many penalties definitely cost us but that’s our first game as a team. ROC had some exhibition games and that’s the first time we played a full game as a team this season, so it was definitely tough but we’re just gonna keep building on it and try to get better."
ROC captain Anton Slepyshev was happy with his team's performance, even if he was not overly impressed with the play from the British team.
"From our point of view it was a good first period, regardless of the level of the opposition," said ROC captain Anton Slepyshev. "But then Britain recovered and tried to prove something. I'm sure they can progress but at the moment with that roster I don't think they could compete in the KHL."
Once Whistle overcame those early jitters he performed bravely in the second period to keep the scoring down. As ROC looked to turn the screws, he was acrobatic around his crease – most notably on the PK after Ben Davies was called for delaying the game.
Indeed, Whistle made 19 successive stops before Pavel Karnaukhov added a fifth for the Russians when he collected a long past, shielded the puck from Dallas Ehrhardt and outwitted the British goalie before depositing the puck inside the post.
"I think three of those goals [that went against Whistle] were into empty nets, which is always hard for a goaltender," said GB coach Neilson. "Something we tried to do is cut down those back door plays and, once we did that, he was able to be a bit more aggressive and as a result he was able to make some big saves for us."
It says much for the depth of the Russians’ quality that Valeri Bragin was also able give Andrei Kuzmenko his first start of the tournament. The SKA forward showed his class when he potted a sixth goal for the Red Machine, combining a toe drag and a shot that came through Mark Richardson to beat Whistle.
The closing stages brought a seventh ROC goal when team captain Anton Slepyshev converted a Karnaukhov feed. The puck bounced out of the net and initially play continued but a video review confirmed that the CSKA Moscow forward had his first goal of the championship.
"The ref was behind the net and couldn’t see the puck so he thought it hit the crossbar. The officials couldn’t give it right away," Slepyshev reflected.
That completed the scoring as ROC makes it back-to-back wins in imposing fashion. Britain is back in action immediately with a game against Slovakia on Sunday.
Great Britain vs ROC- 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship
GBR vs. ROC
In a tournament that has already produced some big shocks, that ensured that ROC would not follow Canada and Sweden onto the list of Goliaths felled in the opening weekend. "We were always confident, we know we have an excellent team," Tolchinski said after the game. "We went out and played with total focus from the first minute. It was good that we scored early and we could build on that and deliver the win."
But after that blistering start, ROC slowed. Britain still had its hands full staying anywhere close to competitive, but managed to finish the first period on a high when Kirk got his country on the scoreboard. It was a well-worked power play goal, too, with Brendan Connolly holding the puck on the right-hand boards before slipping it to Robert Dowd. The long-serving Sheffield Steelers man gave an instinctive feed to Kirk, who returned to Sheffield for the Elite Series, and the Yorkshire-born youngster snaffled his first goal at this level. It was also a rare power play goal for the Brits, who failed to score in any of their 12 PP chances in Slovakia two years ago.
"It was always going to be a tough game and for us, we just wanted to compete for 60 minutes," Kirk said. "Way too many penalties definitely cost us but that’s our first game as a team. The ROC team had some exhibition games and that’s the first time we played a full game as a team this season, so it was definitely tough but we’re just gonna keep building on it and try to get better."
ROC captain Anton Slepyshev was happy with his team's performance, even if he was not overly impressed with the play from the British team.
"From our point of view it was a good first period, regardless of the level of the opposition," said ROC captain Anton Slepyshev. "But then Britain recovered and tried to prove something. I'm sure they can progress but at the moment with that roster I don't think they could compete in the KHL."
Once Whistle overcame those early jitters he performed bravely in the second period to keep the scoring down. As ROC looked to turn the screws, he was acrobatic around his crease – most notably on the PK after Ben Davies was called for delaying the game.
Indeed, Whistle made 19 successive stops before Pavel Karnaukhov added a fifth for the Russians when he collected a long past, shielded the puck from Dallas Ehrhardt and outwitted the British goalie before depositing the puck inside the post.
"I think three of those goals [that went against Whistle] were into empty nets, which is always hard for a goaltender," said GB coach Neilson. "Something we tried to do is cut down those back door plays and, once we did that, he was able to be a bit more aggressive and as a result he was able to make some big saves for us."
It says much for the depth of ROC ’s quality that Valeri Bragin was also able give Andrei Kuzmenko his first start of the tournament. The SKA forward showed his class when he potted a sixth goal for the Red Machine, combining a toe drag and a shot that came through Mark Richardson to beat Whistle.
The closing stages brought a seventh ROC goal when team captain Anton Slepyshev converted a Karnaukhov feed. The puck bounced out of the net and initially play continued but a video review confirmed that the CSKA Moscow forward had his first goal of the championship.
"The ref was behind the net and couldn’t see the puck so he thought it hit the crossbar. The officials couldn’t give it right away," Slepyshev reflected.
That completed the scoring as ROC makes it back-to-back wins in imposing fashion. Britain is back in action immediately with a game against Slovakia on Sunday.
But after that blistering start, ROC slowed. Britain still had its hands full staying anywhere close to competitive, but managed to finish the first period on a high when Kirk got his country on the scoreboard. It was a well-worked power play goal, too, with Brendan Connolly holding the puck on the right-hand boards before slipping it to Robert Dowd. The long-serving Sheffield Steelers man gave an instinctive feed to Kirk, who returned to Sheffield for the Elite Series, and the Yorkshire-born youngster snaffled his first goal at this level. It was also a rare power play goal for the Brits, who failed to score in any of their 12 PP chances in Slovakia two years ago.
"It was always going to be a tough game and for us, we just wanted to compete for 60 minutes," Kirk said. "Way too many penalties definitely cost us but that’s our first game as a team. The ROC team had some exhibition games and that’s the first time we played a full game as a team this season, so it was definitely tough but we’re just gonna keep building on it and try to get better."
ROC captain Anton Slepyshev was happy with his team's performance, even if he was not overly impressed with the play from the British team.
"From our point of view it was a good first period, regardless of the level of the opposition," said ROC captain Anton Slepyshev. "But then Britain recovered and tried to prove something. I'm sure they can progress but at the moment with that roster I don't think they could compete in the KHL."
Once Whistle overcame those early jitters he performed bravely in the second period to keep the scoring down. As ROC looked to turn the screws, he was acrobatic around his crease – most notably on the PK after Ben Davies was called for delaying the game.
Indeed, Whistle made 19 successive stops before Pavel Karnaukhov added a fifth for the Russians when he collected a long past, shielded the puck from Dallas Ehrhardt and outwitted the British goalie before depositing the puck inside the post.
"I think three of those goals [that went against Whistle] were into empty nets, which is always hard for a goaltender," said GB coach Neilson. "Something we tried to do is cut down those back door plays and, once we did that, he was able to be a bit more aggressive and as a result he was able to make some big saves for us."
It says much for the depth of ROC ’s quality that Valeri Bragin was also able give Andrei Kuzmenko his first start of the tournament. The SKA forward showed his class when he potted a sixth goal for the Red Machine, combining a toe drag and a shot that came through Mark Richardson to beat Whistle.
The closing stages brought a seventh ROC goal when team captain Anton Slepyshev converted a Karnaukhov feed. The puck bounced out of the net and initially play continued but a video review confirmed that the CSKA Moscow forward had his first goal of the championship.
"The ref was behind the net and couldn’t see the puck so he thought it hit the crossbar. The officials couldn’t give it right away," Slepyshev reflected.
That completed the scoring as ROC makes it back-to-back wins in imposing fashion. Britain is back in action immediately with a game against Slovakia on Sunday.
Great Britain vs ROC - 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship
OF