2018 Olympic Games. Olympic Athletes from Russia - USA - 4:0

Today, the male Olympic Athletes from Russia team took on the USA in the concluding 2018 Olympic Games group stage match. Head coach Oleg Znarok didn't make any real changes to the line-up following Friday's convincing win against Slovenia, keeping Vasily Koshechkin between the pipes. Ryan Zapolski was the USA's starting goaltender.

Highly pumped up, our players were excellent during the first period. The Americans were being forced to spend plenty of time inside their own zone, relying on goaltender Ryan Zapolski to keep them in the game. Eventually, the team broke through. Charging to the doorstep, SKA forward Nikolai Prokhorkin completed a flowing play with a pinpoint effort. Ryan Donato could have equalised for the USA, but his wrister smacked the pipe with Vasily Koshechkin beaten.

Seconds into the second period, the Olympic Athletes from Russia doubled the lead. Nikolai Prokhorkin was the hero again, shooting over the goaltender's extended glove. The Americans threw everything at Vasily Koshechkin as they desperately tried to get back into the game, however Vasily Koshechkin was proving to be a wall in net. With only one second remaining in the frame, the game was practically ended as a contest. Ilya Kovalchuk took aim from the blue line, firing a cunning one timer past Ryan Zapolski.

Ilya Kovalchuk then scored his second in the third period, launching a wrist shot under the glove. Our players calmly saw the remaining time out, sealing Vasily Koshechkin's shutout and a huge 4:0 victory against the USA! The team take first place in Group B and qualify for the Olympic quarter-finals.

Match protocol:

Olympic Athletes from Russia - USA - 4:0 (1:0, 2:0, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Prokhorkin (Mozyakin, Barabanov), 07.21

2:0 Prokhorkin (Shirokov, Mozyakin), 22.14

3:0 Kovalchuk (Andronov), 39.59

4:0 Kovalchuk (Voynov, Andronov), 40.28

Goalkeepers: Koshechkin - Zapolski

Shots on target: 26 - 29

Penalty minutes: 10 - 10

17.12.2018.