2018 World Championship. Russia - Sweden - 1:3

On May 15, the senior Russian national team fell to Sweden 1:3 in the final 2018 World Championship group stage match.

Our players were strong at the start of the match, with Kirill Kaprizov scoring from the doorstep when enjoying a 5 on 3 powerplay. However, Sweden gradually began increasing the intensity when attacking, forcing Vasily Koshechkin into plenty of tricky stops.

Unfortunately, Sweden's pressing eventually resulted in a goal midway through the second stanza. On the man advantage, Mika Zibanejad took aim on the right faceoff circle, catching the unsighted Vasily Koshechkin cold. The Swedes promptly took the lead too, as Rickard Rakell hit the jackpot when all alone at point blank range.

During an exciting third period, Russia threw everything at the Swedes, testing goalkeeper Anders Nilsson from all angles possible. Vasily Koshechkin was pulled in the final minutes, but that only resulted in Mattias Ekholm scoring from his own zone. 1:3, Russia finish in second place of Group A at the 2018 World Championship.

Match protocol:

Russia - Sweden - 1:3 (1:0, 0:2, 0:1)

Goals:

1:0 Kaprizov (Gusev, Datsyuk), 02.44

1:1 Zibanejad (Ekman-Larsson, Nyqvist), 29.27

1:2 Rakell (Zibanejad, Janmark), 36.04

1:3 Ekholm (Nilsson), 58.55

Goalkeepers: Koshechkin - Nilsson

Shots on target: 31 - 29

Faceoffs: 33 - 31

Penalty minutes: 4 - 14

15.05.2018.