Can Russia win the World Juniors at home? "Yes" was the resounding answer most would give to this question before the tournament started. With the top pick of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft Nail Yakupov as the captain and Mikhail Grigorenko as the other attacking weapon, the offense was seen as the cream of the tournament. With the dynamic goaltending duo of Andrei Vasilevski and Andrei Makarov, this team was considered the most complete on the backend. However, the tournament results have not been impressive so far.
Their first match against Slovakia ended in overtime 3-2 for Russia. The United States and Canada blew out the Slovakians in their respective matches. Against the United States, Russia managed a win but was just down and outplayed for most of the match. They scored seven against Germany, but the score was not surprising considering the fact that the Germans had been blown out by the United States 8-0 and 9-3 by Canada. Then the Russians lost 4-1 to Canada. However, the questions became all the more prominent in their last battle with Switzerland in the quarter finals. Russia's Alexander Khoklachyov scored at the 6:07 mark of the match, but the Swiss tied the match less than four minutes later. Grigorenko scored early in the second, but the Swiss tied it up just over three minutes later. In the third, the Swiss struck first and held Russia in check until Nikita Kucherov scored with under two minutes left. The Russians failed to do much in overtime, but managed a win in the ensuing shootout. This was their worst win of the tournament and exposed their weaknesses on the backend.
Now they take on the defending champions; a team that defeated them in the finals a year ago. Sweden won Group A with facility and garnered 11 out of 12 possible points. They took down the Czech Republic 4-1, beat the Swiss 3-2 in the shootout, beat Latvia 5-1, and took down Finland 7-4. This team has looked tremendous on the defensive and has shown an ability to score big goals in big moments. Filip Forsberg still needs to step up his game if the Swedes want to defend their championship.
Predictions: Sweden looks far better than the Russians and will end their run with a 5-3 win.
Start Time: 8 AM EST
TV Info: TSN
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