TORONTO — Russia, despite a slow start and steady parade to the penalty box in the second period, still managed to show off its considerable skills in a 7-0 romp Sunday over the hard-working Swiss in round-robin play at the world junior hockey championship.
The Russians had to play a man down for more than half of a combative second period that saw Anatoli Golyshev ejected after a blindside hit to the head that resulted in Swiss defenceman Phil Baltisberger being stretchered off.
The win moves Russia (2-0 with one shootout win) past the Swiss (1-1) into second place in Group B. The unbeaten Swedes lead the group by one point.
Rushan Rafikov, Alexander Dergachyov, Pavel Buchnevich, Sergei Tolchinski, Alexander Sharov, Vladislav Kamenev and Vyacheslav Leshenko scored for Russia, which got a solid performance in goal from Igor Shestyorkin.
The Russians were outshot but made the most of their scoring chances, as evidenced by two goals on two shots in the second period. Russia led 3-0 after the first period and 5-0 after a second period in which it was outshot 14-2.
The Swiss missed twice on two-on-ones in the final minute, symbolizing their tough evening.
Ludovic Waeber replaced Gauthier Descloux in the Swiss goal to open the third. Descloux gave up five goals on 13 shots but was not helped by Swiss turnovers.
The Russians, bronze medallist a year ago, opened the tournament with a 3-2 shootout win over unheralded Denmark. The Swiss, seventh last time out, beat the Czechs 5-2 for the first time at the tournament since 1998.
The Swiss started smartly Sunday at the Air Canada Centre, outshooting the Russians 7-1 to open the game. But the Russian class began to tell and they scored on three of their next nine shots to lead 3-0 after 20 minutes.
Rafikov, a Calgary Flames prospect, opened the scoring on the power play at 11:28 with a blast from the point with Descloux unsighted.
Dergachyov made it 2-0 at 18:26 when he beat Descloux to the stick side with a well-considered wrist shot from just inside the faceoff circle as the Russians took advantage of a Swiss turnover coming out of their zone.
Buchnevich, a New York Rangers draft choice, scored 71 seconds later on a wrist shot as he was checked to the ice after the Swiss defence was turned inside out by a great rush down the centre by St. Louis Blues prospect Ivan Barbashyov.
Switzerland failed to take advantage of 10 minutes three seconds worth of power play in the second period with Shestyorkin, a New York Rangers draft choice, up to every challenge.
The Golyshev major turned coincided with a minor penalty that gave the Swiss a five-on-three for more than minute. But the Russians survived and Tolchinski, with a rare Russian shot, made it 4-0 at 15:29 as the Swiss were punished for another turnover.
The nasty tone continued with Swiss forward Kevin Fiala given a minor and 10-minute misconduct later in the period for a hit to the head.
Sharov added a fifth Russian goal at 17:36, beating Descloux with a wrist shot after a nifty move at the blue-line to elude a defender.
Kamenev and Leshenko padded the lead late in the third period.
The Swiss lineup featured five players from North American junior teams and San Joe Sharks defenceman Mirco Muller. The Russian roster had four CHL players.
Switzerland is coached by Montreal-born John Fust, whose grandparents moved to Canada in the 1920s. The Princeton grad played professionally in Switzerland, returning to Canada to work for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service before turning to coaching.
