Evgeny Malkin (11) did his best, registering three goals and two assists in the last three matches. But it was not enough to win gold.
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
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Russia Takes Bronze at Hockey Worlds
Russia crushed Sweden 3-1 in a bronze medal game at the World Hockey Championship in Moscow on Sunday. The host country earlier lost to Finland in the semis.
Russia, which has not won gold at world championships since 1993, failed to advance to the final after losing to Finland 2-1 in overtime. Mikko Koivu scored at 5:40 of overtime, sending his team to the gold medal game, after one goal from Jukka Hentunen. Evgeny Malkin was the only Russian to register a goal against Finland in the match.
“I would like to apologize to our fans,” Russian coach Vyacheslav Bykov said after the match. “I hope you still have faith in us.”
Finland went on to lose to Canada 4-2 in the final.
The Russians were determined to fight till the bitter end for bronze, unlike at previous championships when the team would lose interest to any result after a knockout.
On Sunday, Alexey Emelin, Sergey Zinovyev and Alexander Frolov each scored to lead their country to the bronze medal in a game against Sweden.
Emelin gave Russia the lead in the first period, followed by a goal from Zinovyev four minutes later. Frolov scored his fifth goal of the tournament on the power play in the second period. Russian goaltender Alexander Eremenko finished with 32 saves in the victory.
Alexander Steen netted the lone goal for defending champions Sweden.
“Our main achievement at this championship was that we have finally created a real team – a group of associates,” Vyacheslav Bykov said in an interview with Kommersant after the match. “I’m optimistic about the future.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 14, 2007
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