Krzyzaniak helps Team Canada to win over Russia

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Published on Thursday, March 31, 2016

From Hockey Canada

Media Release

Neepawa’s own Halli Krzyzaniak, along with Meaghan Mikkelson (St. Albert, Alta.), each scored a pair of goals, sparking Team Canada to an 8-1 victory over the Russia National Team at the 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship.That victory, on Tuesday, Mar. 29, evened the Canadians’ record at 1-1, while the Russians dropped to the bottom of Group A at 0-2.

Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, Ont.), Jennifer Wakefield (Pickering, Ont.), Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que.), and Emily Clark (Saskatoon, Sask.) supplied the rest of the offence for the Canadians, who got three assists from Johnston, and four helpers from Brianne Jenner (Oakville, Ont.).

Canada came out with jump, holding a 13-7 advantage in shots on goal in the first period, but it was the Russians who struck first against the flow of play; Iya Gavrilova snuck a shot inside the post behind Canadian netminder Charline Labonté (Boisbriand, Que.) for the lone goal of the opening frame.

But the hosts gave their fans at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, British Columbia something to cheer about early and often in the second period. Johnston needed just 40 seconds of the middle stanza to tie the game, beating Russian goaltender Anna Prugova through the five-hole for a shorthanded goal that opened the floodgates.

Krzyzaniak beat a screened Prugova with a shot from the point at 3:07, and Wakefield drove hard to the Russian net just 35 seconds later, knocking the puck past Prugova while falling, for a 3-1 advantage.

That would be it for Prugova, but Maria Sorokina didn’t fare much better; Mikkelson cleaned up a rebound after a wild scramble in front for the Canadians’ third goal in 1:35, and added her second just 38 seconds later on the power play to make it 5-1.

The blue-liner had a hat trick on her stick after the Canadians were awarded a penalty shot, but Sorokina made a terrific pad save to keep it a four-goal game and deny Mikkelson what would have been three goals in two minutes and 21 seconds.

Krzyzaniak capped the high-scoring period at 17:05, pinching in for another man-advantage marker, Poulin added a second shorthanded goal at 13:19 of the third, and Clark finished the scoring with 2:08 left.

This victory was an important win for the Canadian squad, after opening the tournament on Monday, Mar. 28 with a 3-1 loss to the defending champions, the United States.

Canadian netminder Emerance Maschmeyer, (Bruderheim, Alta), stopped the first 31 shots she faced, many of them of the ‘did-you-see-that!’ variety, but the Americans struck three times in the final 10:02 to escape with the win.

Laura Fortino (Hamilton, Ont.) had the lone goal for Canada, opening the scoring on the power-play in the first minute of the third period.  Hilary Knight pulled the U.S. even at 10:52 with a wrist shot that deflected off Krzyzaniak’s stick and beat Maschmeyer low glove side. Brianna Decker knocked in the game-winner on the sixth and final American power play with 6:05 to go.

The Canadians had a glorious opportunity to tie the game in the dying minutes after a turnover right in front of the U.S. net, but her quick shot rang off the crossbar behind Rigsby.

Knight added her second goal into an empty net with 19.1 seconds left to cap the scoring. The Americans finished with a 38-23 advantage in shots on goal. Krzyzaniak was held pointless in the game and served a two minute penalty in the second period for cross-checking.