MINSK, 2 June (BelTA) - Belarus lost 0-6 to Russia in the final match of the 2021 IIHF World Championship group stage in Riga, Latvia, BelTA has learned.
Belarus allowed a goal 36 seconds into the game after Nikita Nesterov's shot from the blue line. The Russians continued to attack and Emil Galimov doubled the lead on the fifth minute.
Belarus replaced Konstantin Shostak by Alexei Kolosov in the net. Alexey Kolosov stepped in instead of Konstantin Shostak. That measure did not help either. Five minutes after the second goal, Maksim Shalunov fired a shot from the blue line to make it 0-3.
The Russians kept up the pressure, and Mikhail Grigorenko and Nikita Nesterov sent the puck into Belarus' net each.
The game calmed down a bit in the middle stanza. The Belarusians began to play more solid in defense and were more active on the counterattack. Mikhail Stefanovich and Nikita Klimovich had chances to score and did not succeed.
In the final period, Dmitriy Voronkov, assisted by Anton Slepyshev, set the final score.
Yegor Sharangovich, Dmitry Znakharenko and Danny Taylor were named the best three players of the Belarusian team that placed in the bottom of the group.
In Group B, Germany defeated Latvia 2:1. John Peterka and Marcel Noebels scored for the Germans. Rodrigo Abols scored for the losing side.
Thus, the quarterfinal matches will be the following: Russia v Canada, Switzerland v Germany, Czech Republic v Finland, Slovakia v USA.
