Russia win the Channel One Cup!

Thanks to a comfortable 3:1 victory against the senior Kazakh national team, Russia have won the Channel One Cup with a perfect record at the SKA Arena in Saint Petersburg!

The home players did indeed win all three games against the KHL World Team, Belarus and Kazakhstan to finish in first position of the competition standings.

The Kazakhs initially took the lead on Sunday afternoon, with Andrei Buyalsky firing a tricky effort past Ilya Nabokov into the far corner from the right flank. However, Russia quickly responded nine minutes later, as Maxim Sorkin netted on the powerplay.

SKA forward Vasily Glotov then handed the hosts their maiden advantage in the first knockings of the second stanza.

Although they weren't offering much of an attacking threat, the Kazakhs did manage to keep the game close, but they eventually conceded a third from Ilya Safonov in the dying seconds after their goalkeeper had been pulled for the extra skater.

Match protocol:

Russia - Kazakhstan - 3:1 (1:1, 1:0, 1:0)

Goals:

0:1 Buyalsky (Breus, Rymarev), 01.22
1:1 Sorkin (Khairullin, Konyushkov), 10.46 PPG
2:1 Glotov (Kuznetsov, Nikishin), 23.48
3:1 Safonov (Plotnikov), 59.39 EN

Goalkeepers: Nabokov - Shutov

Shots: 71 - 35

Shots on target: 39 - 16

Faceoffs: 26 - 20

Blocked shots: 12 - 18

Hits: 16 - 17

Penalty minutes: 2 - 4

Referees: Kondratyev, Olisov

Linesmen: Akhipov, Lyubomirov

15.12.2024.