Sergei Tolchinski of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Nikolai Goldobin of IFK Helsinki each scored in the shootout while Metallurg Novokuznetsk goaltender Ilya Sorokin stopped both Denmark attempts to lift Russia to a 3-2 shootout win in the opening game of the 2015 World Junior Hockey Championships from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
It was a very surprising result to the game that many members of the media, including this writer, had going to the Russians by a good margin. Denmark was not expected to make any impact in this year’s tournament. They were promoted after winning the Division I A Tournament in Sanok, Poland last year. In fact, Denmark had missed the last two World Junior tournaments after being relegated following the 2012 tournament in which they lost a thrilling 2-1 overtime contest to Latvia in Calgary.
Denmark started off the scoring at the 13:15 mark of the first period. Russian defender Rinat Valiev of the Western Hockey League’s Kootenay Ice was sent to the penalty box for interference at 13:07. Fellow WHL man Oliver Bjorkstrand of the Portland Winterhawks made Russia pay just eight seconds later when his shot from the top of the faceoff circle beat Ilya Sorokin to the glove side and went in off the post. The neutral Canadian crowd went wild as the Danes took a surprising 1-0 lead.
The power play would prove to be beneficial for Denmark just minutes later after Rushan Rafikov of HK Ryazan was sent to the penalty box for another interference call. It took 47 seconds this time for Denmark to score as Nikolaj Ehlers of the Halifax Mooseheads took a feed from the earlier goal scorer Bjorkstrand and beat Sorokin to the glove side once again to give Denmark an improbable 2-0 lead late in the first period.
It was not your typical game between the strong nations and those fighting to avoid relegation. Denmark came out and played Russia toe-to-toe, actually pushing forward with somewhat of a fore-check. They kept pressure in the middle of the ice forcing the Russians to change the way they approached their attack. Usually, you would see teams like Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Slovenia or Norway play a very defensive game with a very conservative attacking approach. Denmark played almost the complete opposite while taking advantage of the breaks that went their way in the first period.
The puck luck would go in favor of the Russians as the second period wound down. Russia was trying to find a way to break through the tough Denmark penalty kill after Mads Larsen sat for two minutes with a delay of game penalty. The play started from a wide shot off the end boards by Pavel Buchnevich which was picked up by Nikolai Goldobin behind the goal line. He took a tight angle shot which found the net after a deflection off of the skate of Denmark goaltender Georg Sorensen.
Denmark could taste the shocking victory as time wound down in the third period. They started to play with more of a defensive mentality during the final frame in regulation but that mentality came back to bite them when CSKA Moscow forward Maxim Mamin scored off of a deflection from his skate while charging hard to the net. The original shot came from Vladimir Bryukvin on the wing after he brought the puck in from his own zone.
The Danes had a power play late in the game but could not convert on their chance and they game moved into overtime. IIHF Overtime Rules during the Group Stage are a five-minute period of four-on-four hockey before a shootout if needed.
Russia nearly won the game in overtime on a wraparound with less than a minute to go. Georg Sorensen made a huge save with the bottom portion of his pad to keep the puck out of the goal. It was one of 37 saves on the night for the goaltender who plays for the Herning Blue Fox in the Danish Metal Ligaen. Despite the loss, Sorensen earned the VAVEL USA Player of the Game award.
Denmark returns to the ice on Saturday morning for a big game with Sweden in the second game for both teams. Russia has the day off before playing against Switzerland on Sunday afternoon.