2002 IIHF World Junior Championship

Canada 4 Russia 5

January 4, 2002
Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

Russia beat Canada 5-4 in the gold medal game at the World Junior Hockey Championship in the Czech Republic, as Canada settled for the silver medal.

Things started well for Canada as Brian Sutherby scored just 22 seconds into the game, batting a rebound into a wide-open net.

Chuck Kobasew made it 2-0 Canada at 12:55.

The Russians replied less than a minute later when Alexandre Frolov scored on a wrap-around, cutting Canada's lead in half through one period.

But Canada scored early again in the second period, with Scottie Upshall sweeping home a loose puck for a 3-1 lead. Russia replaced starting goalie Andrei Medvedev with back-up Serguei Mylnikov after Upshall's goal.

The moved sparked the team as Russia answered with three straight goals. Stanislav Chistov got the ball rolling when he split the Canadian defence and beat Pascal Leclaire to make it a one goal game again.

Alexander Polushin followed with his second of the tournament to tie the score.
Just over a minute later, Iouri Troubatchev hammered the puck through Leclaire's legs to put Russia ahead for the first time in the game.

Canada finally got some momentum back in the third period when Kobasew tipped a long shot by Dan Hamhuis into the Russian net on a powerplay. Kobasew's second of the game tied the score at 4-4 with 15:00 left in the third period.
But the Russians answered again to re-take the lead. This time, Leclaire was beaten by Anton Volchenkov's long point shot right off a draw in the Canadian zone.