WJC Countdown: Russia snaps gold medal drought in 2011 with three ridiculous comebacks

Over the next 10 days, I’m going to count down to the 2018 World Juniors in Buffalo with some great moments and performances from past tournaments. 

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1991, Russia hasn’t had the same success in international hockey as the Soviet Union did. 

Russia has been competing in the tournament since 1993, and they’ve won four medals. They had an excellent stretch between 1999 and 2003 in which they won three gold medals and produced talents like Alexander Ovechkin and Yevgeni Malkin. But otherwise? The Russians took a back seat to Canada’s dominance in the 2000s. 

In 2011, Canada seemed poised to get themselves back on top. The country has its five-year gold medal streak snapped in 2010 in Saskatoon when the team was upset by the United States in the gold medal game. In Buffalo in 2011, Canada looked to return the favour, capturing gold on American ice. 

Canada, Russia, and Sweden headlined a loaded Group B. Sweden won the group with 11 points, edging out Canada who had 10. Both Sweden and Canada beat the Russians in the preliminary round, leaving Russia in third with a difficult path through the playoff round. 

Canada breezed their way through to the gold medal game with Brayden Schenn and Ryan Ellis leading the way. Schenn, Los Angeles Kings draft pick, posted an absurd 18 points in seven games, while Ellis, who was captaining the team in his third tournament, was a major catalyst from the blueline with 10 points himself. They beat Switzerland 4-1 in the quarterfinal then beat the United States 4-1 in the semifinal to book a ticket to the gold medal game. 

Russia, on the other hand, had a much more difficult path. In the quarterfinal, Finland held a 3-1 lead in the third period, but Russia battled back, scoring two goals with under five minutes to go before winning in overtime. In the semifinal, Russia matched up against a favoured Sweden squad. The Swedes held a 3-2, but Russia tied the game with a minute-and-a-half to go before eventually winning in a shootout. 

In both playoff games, the Russians pulled off wild comebacks to ultimately reach the gold medal game. But they saved their best for Canada. 

Canada was clearly the favoured team to win gold. They took a 3-0 in the second period, with Ryan Ellis, Carter Ashton, and Brayden Schenn scoring goals to put Canada ahead. But like they had done all tournament, the Russians battled back. 

Two minutes into the third, Artemi Panarin got Russia on he board. Just 13 seconds later, Maxim Kitsyn brought Russia within one goal. They weren’t done there. With about 12 minutes to go in the game, Evgeny Kuznetsov carried the puck up the boards and fired a cross-ice pass to Vladimir Tarasenko who buried the tying goal past Mark Visentin. 

The game was deadlocked at 3-3 until the final five minutes, in which a motivated Russian squad completely took over. Panarin busted to the net and beat coverage to bury home a pass from Tarasenko to give Russia the lead. Then, with Canada looking completely lost, Nikita Dvurechensky busted down the wing past Tyson Barrie and iced the game. 

Russia took the game 5-3, winning the country’s first gold medal since 2003. While Schenn took home the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award, it was Tarasenko and Kuznetsov’s performance in the gold medal game that mattered. 

@cooom

The gold medal winning Russian team in 2011