Russians rally for win in ADT Challenge opener
CHICOUTIMI, November 19, 2007 – The Russians promised to ice a competitive team in this year’s edition of the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge and on Monday, they struck first, claiming a 6-4 win over the QMJHL in Chicoutimi, Quebec.
Mikhail Milekhin scored a pair of goals and added an assist and Nikolay Okhlobystin chipped in with a goal and an assist to pace Russians to their first win in the series since 2004.
"I’ve played in this tournament three times and by far this is the best team we’ve seen so far," said QMJHL captain Andrew Bodnarchuk. "They came out strong and kept getting the lead on us and we just couldn’t match it. But we’ve got a day off and then we’ve got them again two days from now so that’s good for us."
The Russians skated out to a 3-1 lead after one period before the QMJHL tied it and then went ahead by a goal early in the third. The Russians scored three unanswered goals and killed off a late penalty to claim the win.
"We just can’t let off," said Bodnarchuk, who was the QMJHL’s player of the game with a goal and two assists. "We had too many momentum swings and a few too many turnovers. They were a really good team in the neutral zone. They generate a lot of speed and they capitalized on that.
"I’m not too sure how long they’ve been together but I think they’ve been practicing together for quite a while. They obviously have some chemistry with their lines. A couple of more skates for us and hopefully we can mesh together."
The Russians struck early when Dmitry Sayustov picked up a loose rebound in front of the net and fired it past Nicola Riopel for a powerplay marker that opened the scoring in the first period.
Mathieu Perrault tied the game a few minutes later when he took a breakaway pass from Mathieu Bolduc at the blueline and slipped a backhander through the legs of Russian goaltender Stanislav Galimov.
Marat Fakhrutdinov put the Russians ahead again midway through the first period when he beat Riopel to the far side on a breakaway and Milekhin padded their lead to two in the final minute of the opening frame. Milekhin made a great move at the blueline to create a two-on-one and wristed a shot past Riopel’s glove hand.
Bodnarchuk scored a powerplay marker at the midway point of the game and then Ryan Hillier burst around a Russian defender and chipped the puck into the far side of the net to tie the game in the final minute of the second period.
Brad Marchand put the QMJHL ahead in the opening seconds of the third period when he wired a wrist shot from the face-off circle between the legs of the Russian goaltender but Okhlobystin tied the game a few minutes later when he tapped in a loose puck after a great individual effort by Alexander Vasyunov. Vasyunov worked his way through three defenders before blistering a shot off the crossbar.
"It’s very tough to come together," said Marchand of the Val-d’Or Foreurs. "We had one 20 minute skate this morning. At the same time, we’re all elite players and we should be able to adapt and click together.
"This is huge for myself and every other player in this series," Marchand said. "It’s a chance to really showcase what we can do. Any international experience is great for every single player. Each player has to make the best of it and show what they can do and hopefully get invited to the final camp."
The series continues on Wednesday in Gatineau on Rogers Sportsnet.
