Veronika Korzhakova and Oxana Bratisheva scored in a 3:08 span early in the third period and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) beat short-handed Germany 3-2 on Sunday to advance to the fifth-place game in the women’s world hockey championship in Calgary.
“It was difficult for us because we knew we didn’t have a chance to win a medal anymore,” Korzhakova said. “But it was a new day and a new game. We rebooted and had a fresh mind, fresh legs, fresh everything.”
The ROC will face Japan on Tuesday, with the winner getting a spot in Group A next year. Japan beat the Czech Republic 3-2.
Anna Savonina also scored for the ROC.
🚨 A nice feed to Oxana Bratisheva puts <a href=”https://twitter.com/russiahockey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@russiahockey</a> up 3-2 over <a href=”https://twitter.com/deb_teams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@deb_teams</a>! <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ROCGER?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ROCGER</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensWorlds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WomensWorlds</a> <a href=”https://t.co/JRnp32wwqY”>pic.twitter.com/JRnp32wwqY</a>
—@IIHFHockey
Tanja Eisenschmid and Kerstin Spielberger scored for Germany, limited to 15 skaters because of injuries. Spielberger gave Germany a 2-1 lead on a long shot with 2:38 left in the second, prompting Russian coach Yevgeni Bobarik to replace goalie Nadezhda Morozova with Valeria Merkusheva.
“This was an important game for us because we are playing for fifth place, which would give us the right to be in Group A for the next world championship,” Bobariko said.
Morozova made 15 saves, and Merkusheva stopped all nine shots she faced. Franziska Albl made 23 saves for Germany.
Hanae Kubo, Rui Ukita, and Akane Shiga scored for Japan and Nana Fujimoto made 31 saves. Alena Mills and Daniela Pejsova scored for the Czech Republic.
Akane Shiga with 1:58 to go barrels down the ice and makes it 3-1 for Japan! <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmileJapan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#SmileJapan</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensWorlds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WomensWorlds</a> <a href=”https://t.co/GVYcnot0Ne”>pic.twitter.com/GVYcnot0Ne</a>
—@IIHFHockey
Alena Mills and Daniela Pejsova scored for the Czech Republic, which fired 17 shots in the third period.
Shiga put Japan up 3-1 with 1:58 left in the game before Pejsova replied 43 seconds later. It made for a frantic finish with goaltender Klara Peslarova pulled with time winding down but the Czechs could not find the equalizer.
In the semifinals Monday, the five-time defending champion United States will face Finland, and Canada will play Switzerland. In the quarter-finals Saturday, the United States beat Japan 10-2, Canada topped Germany 7-0, Finland edged the Czech Republic 3-0 and Switzerland beat the ROC 3-2 in overtime.
Medal games are scheduled for Tuesday.