Drago's Revenge: Russia Put A Beatdown On Team USA At The World Juniors, Make Them Throw The Towel
Codie McLachlan. Getty Images.Who: USA vs Russia
What: IIHF U20 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship Game #1
When: Tonight, 9:30pm puck drop
Where: Edmonton, otherwise known as the Paris of Alberta
Why: Because USA Hockey Is Do Or Die
Well, folks…we made it. We finally freakin' made it. The 2021 World Juniors are finally here and it's time for USA quest for world supremacy to begin.
I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas day. Myself? I spent 15+ hours smoking a pastrami and prime rib. So if we're being totally honest, the fact that I'm still awake to live blog this game is nothing short of an act of heroism. But tonight isn't about me. It's not about you. It's about the boys in Red, White and Blue (not white blue and red) getting ready to kick some commie ass on December 25th just like Rocky did in 1985.
You can find everything you need to know about both of these teams in my Group B preview blog from last week. I think that Team USA is really strong on the blue line. I think they're really strong in net. The issue is that nobody in this tournament is stronger than Russia between the pipes. So I'd imagine we get a pretty low scoring affair here tonight, but you never know. There are going to be some jitters, the boys are desperate to be buzzing, and anything is possible in this tournament. But most likely, we're looking at a close game with a bunch of great scoring chances but very few goals.
And with all that being said….let's get it on! Live blog officially activated.
Make sure to follow along on Twitter @JordieBarstool for real time updates/highlights.
End of the 1st: USA 1 - Russia 1
Well here's the thing. You can't blow a lead if you never get out to one. So Team USA made the mature decision here and allowed the Russians to draw first blood. It's Vasili Ponomaryov getting the party started for Russia with a little tip action here.
I mean I guess we're just pretending that Putin didn't put magnets in the twigs of all the Russians for this tournament but whatever. Doesn't even matter because just a few minutes later, it's Philadelphia Flyers prospect Cam York getting the good guys on the board to even this bitch up at 1 all.
What a stallion. Extra Christmas cookies for the Cam Man. No need for the Russian Gas. That's just pure America Diesel, baby.
End of the 2nd: USA 1 - Russia 4
Zakhar Bardakov puts Russia back up by 1 after this filthy tape-to-tape snap job from Maxim Groshev. This is the type of pass that gets you 6-year, $24M contracts.
Yikes. Aggressively rough night for Spencer Knight. Buddy must have still went to Christmas dinner with his family tonight and deleted a bottle of red and followed that up with a full bottle of bourbon. He just never looked like he knew there was a game going on out there during his 34 minutes between the pipes this game. This 4th goal was the dagger for his night.
And just like that, it's Dustin Wolf 'o clock for Team USA. Honestly…this game is most likely over. Sucks to say, but I don't see anybody putting up 5 goals against Yaroslav Askarov. Just don't get embarrassed the rest of the way tonight, use Austria to get yourselves going tomorrow night. Fuck.
Texas sized disaster of a period there for the boys. 20 minutes left. Maybe try to grab another goal to make the final look a little closer, but really all I care about right now in this 3rd is everybody making it out alive.
3rd Period Updates: USA 3 - Russia 5
Full disclosure here, I watched the 3rd period from bed so I wasn't around to finish out the live blog. But USA did exactly what needed to be done to at least get out of last night's game with some dignity. Trevor Zegras made it a 1-goal game with about 140 seconds left in the game after this laser show of a snipe.
But then the Russians potted home an empty-netter to take the win.
All in all though, USA won the 3rd period 2 goals to 1 empty netter. Tough night for Spencer Knight and I don't want to harp on the kid too much, but I think Team USA should be good to go with riding out Dustin Wolf the rest of the way.
So now USA finds themselves in a nice little 0-1 hole. But just remember that last year, Canada got absolutely DUMMIED by Russia in the round-robin series by a score of 6-0. They eventually came back and beat Russia in the gold medal game. So did USA steal a page out of the Canadian playbook and just lose to Russia now because they know that means they'll have a gold waiting for them on January 5th? You tell me.
Full Game Highlights:
Sidenote: Today (12/26) is without a doubt the greatest day of the year. Not only do we have 3 World Juniors games to watch later, but we have a brand new season of Letterkenny out on Hulu to watch before the games. Pitter patter, boys.
USA vs Austria live blog tonight at 9:30pm ET. See you beauties there.