Russia's ice-hockey team defeats US in World Youth Champs semi-final

HELSINKI. KAZINFORM - The Russian national ice-hockey team has defeated the United States in the 2016 World Junior Ice-Hockey Championship semifinal 2-1 thanks to a correct pre-match analysis of their rivals' game, the Russian team's head coach, Valery Bragin, told journalists.

"I did not have to psych them up for the game today. The most important thing is that they had analyzed their rivals' game well and won," Bragin said.

He praised forward Yegor Korshkov for delivering the second puck that brought victory to the Russian team.

"Korshkov was among leaders at all the tournaments in which the team has taken part. He was a bit nervous this time but played as a true leader," Bragin said.

He added that a decision that Ilya Samsonov would be the Russian team's goalkeeper in the semifinals had been made after a group stage match against Belarus.

"It was right to put Samsonov (in the goal cage). The fact that he rebuffed 50 puck rushes at the World Junior Championship vs. the United States last April had also contributed to making this decision," Bragin explained.

The Russian and Finnish junior teams will now meet in the final, which starts at 21:30 Moscow time on January 5.

Kazinform refers to TASS