ZINOVIEV SCORES TWO AS RUSSIA GETS FIRST ‘W’ BY BEATING WEST

DRUMMONDVILLE, Que. – Ilya Zinoviev scored twice in the third period to provide the final margin of victory as Russia picked up its first win of the 2013 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge on Sunday night, topping West 6-2.

The Russian offence has now scored 13 goals in two games, good for second best after Ontario, which has 17 goals in two games thanks to its 12-0 rout of Slovakia on Sunday in Plessisville, Que.

Maxim Lazarev, Daniil Vovchenko, Andrey Kuzmenko and Yevgeni Svechnikov had the other goals for the Russians, who also split their first two games a year ago in Windsor, Ont,, before rattling off four wins in a row to take home the gold medal.

Vovchenko finished with a goal and an assist, while Alexei Sleptsov and Ivan Nikolishin had two helpers apiece.

Rourke Chartier (Saskatoon, Sask./Kelowna, WHL) and Rhett Gardner (Moose Jaw, Sask./Moose Jaw, SMAAAHL) had the goals for West, which is 0-2 at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge for the third time in four years and has lost eight in a row overall.

Ty Edmonds (Winnipeg, Man./Virden, MJHL) took the loss in the West goal for the second night in a row, making 24 stops, while Maxim Sidorov earned the victory with a 27-save performance.

West will see the ice for the third day in a row Monday when it meets Finland in the matinee in Drummondville (1:30 p.m. ET), while the Russians are off until 2013 – they’ll play Sweden on Tuesday afternoon in Victoriaville (1:30 p.m. ET).