Filatov and Russia too much for Czechs

January 2, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Russian Evgeni Grachev celebrates shorthanded goal in quarterfinal win over the Czech Republic.

Image Courtesy IIHF official site

In the end, there was just too much speed and skill for the Russians. In an all European battle, Russia defeated the Czech Republic 5-1 in the second WJC quarterfinal setting up another historical showdown with Canada in the Final Four at Scotia Bank Place.

With his team leading by only a goal early in the third period, former Columbus Jackets’ No.1 pick Nikita Filatov tallied what proved to be the deciding goal 1:25 in finishing off a nice passing play setup by teammates Evgeni Grachev and Sergei Andronov. It was his club leading sixth in the tournament.

The Russians got into penalty trouble falling two men short a few minutes later but before the Czechs could cash in, Ranger prospect Grachev scored the best goal of the game taking a pass from defenseman Dmitri Kulikov and then beating a man while deking Dominik Furch to the forehand for a crushing shorthanded goal for a three-goal cushion at 47:26.

Grachev was selected by the Rangers last June in the third round and has notched 35 points (19-16-35) in his first season with Brampton of the OHL (Ontario Hockey League). The 18 year-old 6-4 205 pound center entered the medal round with just three points but picked an opportune time for his best game finishing with a goal and assist in the victory.

Trailing by three, Czech D Radko Kudas got one back 25 seconds later converting his second with assists to Tomas Knotek and Vladimir Ruzicka, Jr. Unfortunately, that was the closest they came with an aggressive Russian club coached by former Ranger Sergei Nemchinov continuing utilize their superior speed and playmaking ability scoring twice to put the contest out of reach.

With under six minutes left, Igor Dadonov restored the three-goal cushion finishing off a great passing play taking am offwing Nikita Klyukin feed and shooting it into a vacated net. Klyukin made a great read drawing two defenders and kicked out for the easy finish.

Off a faceoff win, Pavel Chernov snuck in to neatly tap in an Igor Golovkov shot pass from the left point putting the final touches on an impressive final period that saw them dominate and outscore the Czechs 4-1 despite Pierre McGuire’s bitchfest about it not being a fun game to watch.

Sure. It dragged compared to Slovakia’s huge upset over Team USA and wasn’t a classic with frenetic pace like USA-Canada the other night.

However, I found the TSN color commentator’s continued lame attempts at humor annoying. Just shut the hell up you mad scientist! What exactly kinda coach was he again? A failure with the Hartford Whalers.

I would love nothing better than to see the Russians, who should be heavy underdogs tomorrow night spoil the lovefest in Ottawa. What would he then say?

For Russia to have any realistic shot at pulling this off, it will come down to a better effort. While they were strong in the third, the first and second weren’t good with particularly the middle stanza unacceptable. The Czechs easily could’ve led but didn’t due to the play of Vadim Zhelobnyuk, who finished the night with 28 saves.

“Before the game, it’s 50/50,” Nemchinov stated. “Of course, Canada is a very strong team on every line. Tomorrow, it’ll be a great atmosphere. We’ll have to play our best game.”

“The start of the game and the first goal are going to be very important,” Filatov wisely noted.

“But in the end, we just have to score one more than Canada.”