2022 Olympic Games. ROC - Denmark - 3:1

In the quarter-finals of the 2022 Olympic Games, the ROC men's ice hockey team had enough power to keep Denmark at bay, defeating the opponents by a score of 3:1 in a tense battle.

SKA forward Nikita Gusev made two assists along the way.

Vadim Shipachyov pounced on a big rebound to hit the jackpot from an awkward angle on the right wing in the first period, before Frans Nielsen equalised for the Danes on the powerplay in the second. Nevertheless, ROC soon took the lead for the second time, as Nikita Nesterov sent an unstoppable slap shot beyond impressive Danish goaltender Sebastian Dahm from the blue line.

A nervy third frame saw both teams miss excellent opportunities. In comparison to the opening two periods, Denmark were opting for a more aggressive, risky approach, causing problems for ROC with their pace.

The key moment arrived with five minutes remaining in regulation time.

On the powerplay, Vyacheslav Voynov beat Dahm with a rasping wrister to practically end the match as a contest, a goal which arrived just moments after ROC goalkeeper iIvan Fedotov had pulled off a wonderful point-blank save to prevent Denmark from converting an odd-man rush shorthanded.

ROC will now prepare for the semi-final which will take place on Friday against either Sweden or Canada.

Match protocol:

ROC - Denmark - 3:1 (1:0, 1:1, 1:0)

Goals:

1:0 Shipachyov (Gusev, Yakovlev), 13.01
1:1 Nielsen (Hansen, M. Lauridsen), 22.57 PPG
2:1 Nesterov (Gusev, Gritsyuk), 34.36
3:1 Voynov (Shipachyov, Gritsyuk), 55.45 PPG

Goalkeepers: Fedotov - Dahm

Shots on target: 40 - 18

Faceoffs: 26 - 21

Penalty minutes: 4 - 6

16.02.2022.