Russia vs Canada: the classic rivalry

Russia finished the group stages on the first line of the standings but they hardly wanted to get Canada as their opponent in the quarterfinals. However, the Russian national team has a strong lineup and is one of the main contenders for the champion's title.

In the previous three games, Valery Bragin's charges beat Switzerland (4:1), took out Sweden in the penalty shootout (3:2 B), and also defeated Belarus with a score of 6:0. The team was strengthened by such players as Vladimir Tarasenko and Dmitry Orlov. Most likely, Sergei Bobrovsky will tend the goal in the match against the Canadians, and an experienced goalie can make a difference in the playoffs.

Canada looked unconvincing at the group stage and the team was close to leaving the tournament, just like Sweden. Everything depended on the game between Latvia and Germany, in which Germany scored a victory in regulation and gifted the Maple Leafs a chance to prove themselves in the playoffs.

However, Gerard Gallant's charges were far from impressive, they lost to every strong opponent, and managed to beat only the obvious outsiders. In the previous game against the Finns, Canada without much confidence brought the match to a shootout, but the luck was not on their side. The Canadians experience the greatest difficulties with performance in the attack: in four games out of seven, they could not score more than two goals.