Saturday, January 4, 2014

Live Blog: WJC Semifinals, Russia v Sweden

00:00 - Arbitrary Prediction: Sweden 5, Russia 2

00:00 - Sweden moves right to left, Oscar Dansk in net. Russia moves left to right, Andrei Vasilevski

00:09 - Russia controls off the puck drop, don't do much with it

00:45 - great cross-crease pass  from Anton Slepyshev to Nikita Zadorov of Russia, Dansk makes the stop

00:56 - Russia on the power play, Jesper Pettersson gets a Roughing call

01:41 - Puck out of play, Russia getting decent movement with the man advantage but being kept to the outside

02:32 - Russia chases the puck into their own zone off a great shot block and clear. Again nothing much meaningful, just perimeter passing

02:55 - Sweden wins a defencive zone faceoff with :01 left in the PK, working their way up the ice

03:31 - Really liking Zadorov on Russia, plays defence but he's a speedy little bugger

03:48 - Don't believe Sweden even has a shot yet, a lot of dump-and-chase so far. Still a lot of hockey left though

04:03 - Forsberg gets a break at the Russia blue line off a broken play, doesn't do anything spectacular and doesn't convert

Some Russia fan messes with a pane of glass in the corner, long stoppage in play. Good work, dude

04:15 - Puck out of play in Russia zone. Sweden trying to swarm in the offencive zone, Russia is playing ridiculously tight man-on-man

06:25 - Russia has had only one chance in past two minutes, Sweden none. Play is wide open with a 6-1 shot advantage to Russia

07:13 - Pavel Buchnevich has a great coast-to-coast chance, misses on the last move before the shot

08:37 - Sweden gets first shot in a few minutes, a point shot that went high and wide anyways. Russia has been converging immediately whenever the Swedes have the puck low in the zone and are finding ways to get in shooting lanes

09:58 - Sweden really struggling with transition game, doing a really bad job with zone entries and relying too much on individual effort when they attempt

11:00 - Erik Karlsson (not the defenceman from Ottawa, just so we're clear) gets a break, can't control the puck with his half-step lead on the D

11:54 - Nice hands and speed from Andre Burakowsky of Sweden, didn't get a shooting chance or his pass off but still a good effort

12:53 - Best chance from Sweden, Jacob de la Rose wide open up close in the slot but can't convert

12:58 - Great chance off the faceoff, Filip Forsberg gets a shot off through a screen in the faceoff dot, still can't break the seal

14:13 - Do my eyes deceive me or is that the neutral zone trap from Russia? We engaged in the Cold War over this! (or maybe just cancelled a full season, one of the two)

15:23 - Great way to break-up a play by Gustav Olofsson of Sweden in the defencive zone

16:41 - We would have some nice chances if the players would stop sliding all over the ice

16:59 - REALLY quick flash of the leg pad from Dansk. That will be a tough nut to crack

17:06 - Nikita Tryamkin from Russia commits a hold on a rush from Sweden, first Power Play for the host country

17:40 - Mikhail Grigorenko gets a start on a shorthanded chance, needs four Swedes to break up his rush

18:38 - More man-advantage perimeter passing. The difference here? Sweden's shots are getting through instead of seeing blocks

18:39 - Alexander Barabanov takes a puck-over-glass penalty, 2-man advantage for :27 for Sweden

19:11 - First penalty expires, Forsberg wires a slapper from the left faceoff dot after Elias Lindholm does some great work to draw coverage to the right side of the ice after a blocked shot. In close, mind you. Even though on the PK, Russia isn't as aggressive on their defencive zone coverage

20:00 - Sweden 1, Russia 0. Shots: Sweden 10, Russia 10

20:00 - Sweden moves left to right, Russia moves right to left

20:38 - Rush up from Bogdan Yakimov of Russia, gets broken up in close

21:20 - Fancy stickwork from Forsberg, loses the handle

21:38 - Turnover from Robin Norell on Sweden right in front of the net on a suspect trip, Grigorenko can't convert on the wide-angle chance

21:49 - More dump-and-chase from Sweden. Just can't crack the neutral zone code

22:39 - Olofsson interference on Georgi Busarov from Russia in the neutral zone, coach from Sweden is not pleased and is calling a dive from the bench

23:55 - Sweden breaking up rushes well in the slot, Russia is trying too much to get chances in that area of the ice

25:00 - Wrap-around backhand from Valentin Zykov of Russia, things getting a little chippy in front of the net

25:01 - Russia is looking to have the advantage on faceoffs so far in the game

26:39 - Tryamkin has a dangerous shot. Not the first time he has wound up for a blistering one, just didn't have the angle here

29:01 - Vadim Khlopotov from Russia gets a goaltender interference call after wrecking Dansk on a near-2-on-1 with Yakimov

29:54 - Sweden can't find any zone time on the man-advantage after getting some solid pressure off the initial faceoff

31:08 - Dangerous chance from E. Karlsson all alone after a stretch pass from Sweden's zone to the Russia blue line and a feed to centre, Vasilevski manages to collect

31:35 - Erik Karlsson gives Vasilevski a snow-shower and the official isn't too happy about it. No penalty but I really hope we see a fight by the end of this

32:34 - Sweden is really good at breaking up plays low in their zone and in the slot. Russia will need to get creative if they wan't to get on the board

34:41 - There goes Tryamkin of Russia again. Just can't get a shot off after pulling into the slot

35:59 - Dansk covers after a scramble in front of the net. Tryamkin gets a point shot off, Vyacheslav Osnovin provides net-front pressure and Damir Zhafyarov almost gets a scoring chance off a rebound

36:37 - Crowd chants "Let's Go Sweden". In English. I'm confused

37:29 - de la Rose plays with the puck deep in the corner, executes a give in go with Forsberg at the boards, not a bad play and a pretty good shot too

39:55 - de la Rose chips in deep, Forsberg tries for a quick spin to the front of the net, Lindholm gets a double minor on a slash that gets high on Valeri Vasilav when the rebound skitters to the slot. Russia back on the Power Play

40:00 - Sweden 1, Russia 0. Shots: Sweden 8 (18), Russia 7 (17)

40:00 - Sweden moves right to left, Russia moves left to right

40:27 - Another faceoff win leads to some sustained pressure from Russia, Zadorov has some good chances before Sweden clears the zone

41:10 - Russia back chasing the puck again, still 2:45 left in the PP

43:00 - I am having trouble believing Russia is actually setting anything up, I don't see a system here with a man up. Bold move Cotton, just doesn't seem to be paying off

43:55 - Sweden kills the penalty, at very little personal expense I might add

44:55 - Stretch pass to Oskar Sundqvist from Linus Arnesson waiting at the blue line for a breakaway. Fakes to the middle and pulls to the backhand for the goal. Funny thing is, Sundqvist was not the intended target on that pass. Great improvisation

45:29 - Lindholm tests Vasilevski through a screen. Sweden looks to have momentum for pretty much the first time in the game

46:12 - Sweden is getting some zone time but they seem to hold on to the puck too long. I am really bad at hockey, but I feel like there are usually two passes I could make a second or two before they commit to making an ill-advised one. Then again I guess I shouldn't argue with results

46:37 - Russia gains control off an offencive zone face off. Barabanov chips to Zhafyarov who takes a very wide angle shot but it squeaks through Dansk after flipping up into the air. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a game

47:51 - Russia plays the points very wide. This might be a good system if they didn't go point-to-point so slow

48:19 - Grigorenko gets in close off of a rebound, can't convert. Momentum, she swings

49:49 - Andreas Johnson and Sebastian Collberg almost break for a 2-on-1, but Collberg is apparently terrible at reading the rush. Crash the net, man, don't pull up at the slot, where your teammate is going

51:47 - That was fancy. Zhafyarov looks like he is making a short feed to his linemate on the way up to the point but his target lets the puck go and he gets a turnaround look from the top of the circle. It really is the little things

53:30 - So much back and forth. Sweden tries a dump play that doesn't work, Barabanov gets a wrap-around chance at the other end, Sweden charges back up. This isn't the only part of the sequence, but it was probably the best scoring chance

54:20 - Great rush by Andre Burakowsky of Sweden, circles the zone, Olofsson gets a solid chance after receiving the pass and pinching in

56:49 - Dansk is pretty beastly. Chance close in by Yakimov from Eduard Gimatov in the slot with a third rushing to the far-side

57:51 - Nick Sorensen to Filip Sandberg on a pass across the slot for Sweden. Very good chance but no dice on the play

58:41 - Vasilevsky is pulled with a Swedish-zone faceoff after an icing play. Hold on to your hats

59:20 - Not a lot of space for the Russians

59:41 - Slashing call on Pettersson after checking his man down low and aggressively turning to go for the puck, brings his stick down right on an opponent's

59:54 - Dansk smothers another close chance, this time by Vyacheslav Osnovin, and knocks the net off its moorings

60:00 - And Sweden advances to the final to face the winner of Finland v Canada

60:00 - LINE BRAWL!!!

60:00 - Swedes were tying the Russians up on the near boards after an own-zone faceoff, Russians are taking offence, probably to losing, the Sweden team is coming off the bench to celebrate (including Pettersson from the penalty box), and all hell breaks loose. Sorensen from Sweden gets buried under the pile-up, and things will probably be awkward in Handshake Alley

60:00 - Damir Zhafyarov from Russia, Oscar Dansk from Sweden awarded "Best Player of the Game" for their respective teams

60:00 - Andreas Johnson, Alexander Wennberg, and Filip Forsberg of Sweden awarded watches as best performers of the tournament

60:00 - #20 (who doesn't exist, everyone is confused for a moment), Andrei Vasilevski, Anton Slepyshev, and Mikhail Grigorenko of Russia awarded watches as best performers of the tournament

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