Kovalchuk's goal ousts Canada in Worlds
Russia's Ilya Kovalchuk, far right, celebrates with his teammates after scoring the go-ahead goal against Canada in the third period of a quarterfinal game. (May 12, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
Russia has advanced to the semifinals at hockey’s world championships, defeating Canada 2-1 on Ilya Kovalchuk’s winning goal in third period.
Russia will play Finland in Friday’s semis, and the Czech Republic will meet Sweden. Earlier Thursday, Jarkko Immonen scored twice to help Finland beat Norway 4-1.
Russia topped Canada for the second straight year after winning 5-2 in the quarters at last year’s worlds. This was the first loss for Canada at this year’s tournament.
Canada’s Jason Spezza opened the scoring, taking a pass from Alex Pietrangelo on the blue line and scoring on a breakaway 5:32 into the second period.
Alexei Kaigorodov tied it 9:07 into the final period, scoring short-handed on a breakaway. Kovalchuk’s goal came with 7:41 left.
