WJC: Malkin Guides Russia over Sweden

Team Russia vs. Team Sweden Game Summary

December 27th, 2005

LINE 1: Kulemin (Undrafted) - Malkin (Pittsburgh) - Zubov (Ottawa), Emelin (Montreal) - Bodrov (Undrafted)

LINE 2: Radulov (Nashville) - Ogorodnikov (New York Islanders) - Voloshenko (Minnesota), Biryukov (Undrafted) - Buravchikov (Buffalo)

LINE 3: Shirokov (Undrafted) - Churilov (Undrafted)- Lemtyugov (St. Louis), Zubarev (Atlanta) - Lyamin (Ottawa)

LINE 4: Lisin (Phoenix) - Yunkov (Washington) - Ketov (Undrafted), Nikitin (St. Louis) - Aksenenko (Undrafted)

GOALIE: Anton Khudobin (Minnesota)

Team Russia blew Sweden out of the water 5:1 after an early first period struggle against the Nordic squad. Still, let's break down exactly how Russia attained victory and what it will take for Russia to be victorious against the most significant North American opponents. As expected, the Russian squad revolves around a single player - Evgeny Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins top prospect and second overall selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Malkin commanded a lot of attention from the Swedes and worked hard everywhere on the ice. Malkin created scoring chances for his linemates, but then he opened up the scoring himself on a power play by shooting a one timer from the face off circle right into the goalie's five hole.

Evgeny Malkin skated on Russia's top line along with Ottawa Senators prospect Ilya Zubov and surprisingly undrafted, though at one point highly touted 86 born Russian prospect Nikolai Kulemin. While Zubov did not stand out with his accomplishments or mistakes against the Swedes, Kulemin shined, netting two goals for Russia. He scored the first one by getting a feed from Malkin in the corner and then skating out in front of the net and shooting a laser top side from 10 feet away to right underneath the crossbar. He then notched Russia's fifth tally short handed when he skated the entire length of the ice, then suddenly finding a burst of speed to blow by the defenseman, veering across the crease and back-handing the puck between the goalies pads as he was moving from side to side.

Russia's second line did not stand out all that much through out the contest, but did get on the board with Roman Voloshenko's goal. Well, Voloshenko scored the goal, but the entire line was responsible for it, with Nashville's Alexander Radulov making a nice pass to New York Islanders prospect Sergei Ogorodnikov, who shot the puck hitting the post. Roman Voloshenko then crashed the net, collected the rebound and put it in the empty net - a real team effort and a hard working goal. The three players interacted well on the ice, clearly developing some chemistry. It's not a surprise between Radulov and Voloshenko who have been skating together for many seasons during international competition. As described earlier, Ogorodnikov is a strong "spare part" who can fit on any line and accordingly he fit well on Russia's second line.

We'll get back to the third line in a bit, but going straight to Russia's fourth line, one might think that Washington's second round pick Mikhail Yunkov should be skating together with his long time partners Radulov and Voloshenko. Unfortunately, while his former linemates continue to develop and grow, Yunkov has not developed quite at the same pace physically and looked virtually invisible on Russia's fourth line. Known as a hard working face off specialist similar to a young Nikolishin, Yunkov struggled to win any face offs against the Swedes. Another fourth line forward, Enver Lisin, is clearly better caliber player than his position in the lineup. Considering that each line has a pairing that each display a lot of chemistry (Malkin - Kulemin from Metallurg, Radulov - Voloshenko for years, Shirokov - Nikolai Lemtyugov from CSKA), and his former 2005 linemates Dmitri Pestunov and Alexander Ovechkin are not on the squad, Lisin will likely remain on the fourth line barring any injuries. The fourth line did not get much ice time in general, as Russia seemed to constantly either skate on the power play or short handed. In both situation the fourth line took a seat.

Russia's third line looked very strong, with Shirokov and Lemtyugov bringing the chemistry that has made them well known in the Super League to the international arena. Shirokov notched the lines only goal by putting a shot top side of the net over the sprawled out goalie off Gennady Churilov's feed. Churilov, did not stand out in this contest. He didn't seem to lack confidence, but did not seem to be well prepared or suited for the faster paced hockey of the smaller rink. He is not the only one who struggled, and will likely remain on this line and adjust as the tournament continues.

Defensively, the Russian team looked weaker than last year. This year did not go to waste for Alexei Emelin's development, as the young prospect grew physically, as well as mentally. The Montrea Canadiens have gotten a steal when they drafted this young player late in 2004. He was together on the ice, playing solid positional hockey and making some impressive passes. Still, like with the rest of the Russian squad, he needs to prove himself against the Americans and Canadians before establishing himself as a top notch prospect. Ottawa's second round pick Kirill Lyamin started the tournament a bit slow and lacking confidence, but after the first period he picked up the pace and looked a lot more aggressive. Towards the end of the contest, Lyamin was one of Russia's top blue liners.

Lyamin's partner Andrei Zubarev, who was one of the few Russians drafted in 2005 (by the Atlanta Thrashers), did not impress against the Swedes. He looked heavy and struggled to keep up with the action. At this point Zubarev reportedly already weighs 97 kg. While this may be impressive for physical play, considering that Zubarev is only 1.83 meters, it does raise some concern regarding his fitness. Some were raising concerns earlier about Dmitri Megalinsky's physical fitness, when he weighed around 220 pounds, but that young defenseman stood at 1.88 meters and has since dropped 15 pounds. While Zubarev did not necessarily struggle, he did not fulfill our expectations from him at this tournament. Another Russian blue liner who did not impress was the St. Louis prospect Nikita Nikitin. The young blue liner skated on the fourth line and struggled to keep up with the action. While he can clearly skate and has good size, these qualities are no longer good enough to get him through as they did several seasons ago. To Nikitin's defense, it is his first high level international tournament, as he did not skate for the national team often previously.

In the net, Anton Khudobin looked strong, but at the same time he was not required to make any heart stopping saves for Russia. The goal he allowed early in the contest developed after a Swedish forward got a feed behind the net, then skated it to the front and put a back hand from a sharp angle. The puck hit Khudobin's back and landed in the net. To shake the label of unreliability, Khudobin will need to win big against the tournament favorites - the American or the Canadian squads.