Russia ends Canada's gold-medal dream
Last Updated: Sunday, January 12, 2003 | 8:40 PM ET
CBC Sports
Yuri Trubachev scored the winning goal at 11:09 of the third period as Russia edged Canada 3-2 in front of 10,594 fans at the Halifax Metro Centre.
Andrei Taratukhin and Igor Grigorenko also scored for the defending champions, while Andrei Medvedev made 22 saves for the win.
Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau and Scottie Upshall answered for Team Canada.
Team Russia's Denis Grebeshkov, from left, Alexander Ovechkin and Nikolai Zherdev sing their national anthem after winning the gold medal against Canada. (CP PHOTO)
Player of the game Marc-Andre Fleury was on his toes all night in the Canadian net and made 28 saves in a losing cause.
It's been six long years since Canada won gold at the world junior tournament and after the heartache of last year's 5-4 loss to the Russians, Team Canada believed this would be the year the drought would finally end.
Scottie Upshall reacts after losing the gold-medal game. (CP PHOTO)
Canada appeared to be in control of the game after Upshall gave Canada a 2-1 lead with four minutes remaining in the second period.
With Alexei Kaigorodov in the penalty box for cross-checking Joffrey Lupul, Canada's top-ranked power play went to work.
The man-advantage didn't start out in Canada's favour though. Just seconds into the power play, Fleury had to make a save on Taratukhin on a semi-breakaway. Canada finally gained possession and after Medvedev made several point-blank saves, Upshall finally buried one past him.
Parenteau skated from the back of the net to the left slot. Medvedev stopped Parenteau's shot, but Upshall was at the top of the crease for the rebound.
The line of Lupul, Greg Campbell and Derek Roy constantly looked like a threat to score all night, especially during the second, when both Campbell and Roy had chances in tight.
"We had a couple chances when it was 2-1 to make it 3-1," said Lupul, an Edmonton native. "We make it 3-1 and that could've been all she wrote.
"It seemed every time we were out there, we were in their zone buzzing," he said of his line. "We had our shots, we had some chances in close. We played hard all game and it would've been nice for a couple of those to go in."
Fleury did his part to keep Canada's lead with 43 seconds left in the second when he grabbed Alexander Ovechkin's slapshot out of the air as the Metro Centre fans chanted "Fleury, Fleury."
In the Canadian dressing room during the second period, everyone was anticipating a gold-medal victory.
"Everyone was excited," said Fleury. "We just wanted to come out strong in the third and finish it off, but the Russians came back strong."
Canada contained the dangerous Russian attack for 40 minutes, but couldn't hold off their speed and skill for the final 20.
Just over four minutes into the third, Canada had problems communicating in their own zone and failed to clear the puck. Grigorenko completed a tic-tac-toe passing play by Fleury, who had no chance on the shot.
Trubachev added the go-ahead goal at 11:09 of the third.
"They're extremely talented offensively, we had some turnovers and they made us pay," said Lupul, a first-round pick of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
"It seems to be a trademark of Russian teams. You make a mistake and they capitalize on it."
As the time ticked down on the scoreclock, the Canadians pressed for the equalizer, but the goal just didn't come. When the final horn sounded, Upshall, one of four returnees from last year's team, hung his head in his knees.
The gritty forward from Fort McMurray, Alta., couldn't find a way to describe winning the silver medal when it was the gold he wanted around his neck.
"A silver medal is better than ...," a visibly upset Upshall said. "Second place out of 10 teams. I thought for every game, we brought our best game. What can you do, we fell short. We've got a silver medal now and it's something to be proud of in the future."
Coach Marc Habscheid said he was extremely proud of his squad and added that Sunday's game was a classic case of two very evenly matched teams.
"The margin for error is small. It's just one of those things," he said. "We had a lot of chances, their goaltender played well. They had chances, our goaltender played well.
"It happened to be their day today."
Game Notes:
