Russia wins Channel 1 Cup, Belarus beats imports to second place
The final day of international action in St. Petersburg saw Russia 25 make it three from three with victory over Kazakhstan. That secured the trophy for the tournament host, while condemning the winless Kazakhs to last place. Then Belarus thrashed the KHL World Team 6-1, securing second place in the four-team competition.
Glotov grabs game-winner
Russia 25 3 Kazakhstan 1 (1-1, 1-0, 1-0)
A 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan secured top spot for Russia 25 at the 2024 Channel 1 Cup. Once again, there was a strong SKA contribution in St. Petersburg, with Vasily Glotov grabbing the game-winner on Sunday.
Kazakhstan came into this one looking for a first win of the tournament. The Kazakh roster drew heavily on players from the national championship, with just three active KHLers on the team. One of them, Torpedo defenseman Dmitry Breus, got an assist early in the game as Andrei Buyalsky opened the scoring in the second minute. His shot caught Ilya Nabokov off guard, beating the Metallurg man at the start of his third appearance in the tournament.
The Russian response came midway through the first period when Maxim Sorkin converted his team’s second power play. Once again, Marat Khairullin was among the assists and the SKA man would finish the tournament as Russia’s scoring leader.
Kazakhstan stayed in the game thanks to the efforts of Barys goalie Andrei Shutov. He stopped 11 shots in the first period, and 12 more after the intermission. However, Glotov found a way past him, taking Evgeny Kuznetsov pass and hitting a backhand shot for his first tally of the weekend. Kuznetsov, representing his country on home ice for the first time since 2016, moved to 3 (1+2) for the tournament and also earned the MVP award.
The third period brought more Russian pressure, and more good work from Shutov to keep the game alive. Going into the closing moments it was still a one-goal game, and Kazakhstan came close to tying it up with a sixth skater. However, a goalmouth scramble at one end yielded nothing, while Ilya Safonov found the empty net to seal a 3-1 verdict.
Strong finish from Belarus
Belarus 6 KHL World Team 1 (1-0, 4-1, 1-0)
A comfortable win over the KHL World Team secured second place for Belarus in the tournament. Dmitry Kvartalnov’s men took something from each of their three games, only losing out in overtime against Russia 25 on Saturday.
The imports made a bright start to the game. Sochi’s Jesse Graham was close to an early goal, then Avangard’s Ryan Spooner had a a great chance at the back door, only to be denied by Ivan Kulbakov. Gradually, Belarus found its way into the game and at the end of an evenly matched first period, Yegor Borikov made it 1-0 after Hunter Miska failed to hold a Sergei Sapego shot.
Belarus took control in the second period. Andrei Belevich doubled the lead early in the frame, then the imports had to defend with three men for a time. Mike Keenan’s special teams were on point: the PK dealt with its challenge, then midway through the game Jack Rodewald halved the deficit on the power play. However, Belevich responded with his second of the night on the next shift and Belarus never looked back.
Late in the middle frame SKA’s Vladimir Alistrov added a fourth and, within a minute, Sergei Kuznetsov took it to 5-1. Suddenly the game was done and the third period was largely academic. The final word went to Roman Gorbunov, who potted a late power play goal to complete a 6-1 scoreline for the Belarusians.
