It was a wild quarterfinal matchup between Canada and Russia at the 2018 IIHF World Championship today.
In the end, Canada prevailed with a 5-4 overtime win thanks to a powerplay goal by Ryan O’Reilly in the extra frame.
#RUSvsCAN ICYMI: Ryan O'Reilly and @HC_men take advantage of the PP in overtime and pick up the win over @russiahockey! CANADA is going to the semifinals! #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/FiMNZ4jgsz
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 17, 2018
Canada will now play the winner of Finland and Switzerland’s quarter-final matchup in the semis.
Colton Parayko and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got Canada out to a 2-0 lead against the Russians today, but goals from Ilya Mikheyev and Alexander Barabanov tied it at two through 40 minutes.
The third period was a wild affair, with Kyle Turris’ go ahead goal being answered by Sergei Andronov just 93 seconds later.
GAME OVER! Ryan O'Reilly scores the overtime winner, and 🇨🇦 is off to the semifinals with 5-4 win over 🇷🇺. Game stats: https://t.co/6U9y4Hcty3 #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/yO7rx8qrsk
— Team Canada Men (@HC_Men) May 17, 2018
Pierre-Luc Dubois then gave Canada another lead at 4-3, but once again the Russians answered quickly, this time courtesy of Artem Anisimov.
In overtime, Kirill Kaprizov took a costly penalty that led to the game winning goal from O’Reilly, with Connor McDavid and Aaron Ekblad picking up the assists.
Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves in the win, but looked shaky at times and has to be an area of concern for Canada as they head into their semifinal match on Saturday.
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