Filatov’s two goals lift Russia to bronze

January 5, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Russian captain Nikita Filatov celebrates goal leading team to bronze medal at WJC.

Image courtesy IIHF official site

Nikita Filatov scored twice to help lead Russia to a bronze medal 5-2 win over Slovakia earlier tonight in the third place game at the WJC in Ottawa.

The 2008 Columbus first round pick (sixth overall) put home his own rebound late in the second to give Russia some breathing room in what was a one-goal contest till that point. It stood up as the winner.

His second goal of the game came midway through the third tying Canada’s John Tavares for the tourney lead with eight goals. It was a great individual effort which got rewarded when Filatov blocked a shot and then stole the puck breaking in on quarterfinal hero Jaroslav Janus and going top shelf glove side for a 4-1 lead with 8:49 left.

Slovakia didn’t quit pulling Janus for a two-man advantage (6-on-4) with over three minutes to go. The move paid off when leading finisher Tomas Tatar banked one in off a Russian defenseman for his seventh cutting it to 4-2 with 2:59 remaining.

But that was as close as they got with Russian forward Dmitri Kugryshev patiently skating past the red line before shooting the puck into a vacated net to salt it away with 1:53 left. Opening goalscorer Pavel Chernov assisted along with Dmitri Kulikov.

Russian netminder Vadim Zhelobnyuk finished with 20 saves as his country won bronze for a second straight year at the WJC making it five years in a row in which they medaled. His counterpart Janus finished with 21 saves in a losing effort though the fourth place finish was Slovakia’s best showing since 1999 when they took bronze in Winnipeg.

Notes: Ranger prospect Evgeni Grachev tallied an assist finishing the tournament with five points (2-3-5) including goals versus Czech Republic and Canada. … Filatov captained the Russian team who dedicated the tourney to fallen teammate and former Ranger No.1 pick Alexei Cherepanov. He finished with 11 points (8-3-11). … Tatar finished with seven goals and four assists pacing the Slovaks. He was undrafted.

The gold medal game begins at the bottom of the hour with Canada trying to make it five in a row when they take on Sweden. It can be seen on NHL Network.