The second game at the Small Arena of Luzhniki Sports Complex ended with a final score 5:2 in favor of the Russian team (the combined score 7:3).
Chief coach of the Russian National Team Vladimir Krikunov believes that his team was inspired by a "lucky goal scored by Kovalchuk."
"It was a tough game. In the beginning, the teams showed equal performance," Krikunov shared his impressions of the game with journalists at the post-game press conference. "The goal scored by Ilya Kovalchuk helped us a lot. He managed somehow to stuck the puck in the goal," the coach said, adding that after scoring the third goal the team showed a spirited performance.
"With 4:2 in our favor, it was simply a technical matter to win the game, plus, we managed to put the fifth puck in the net," Krikunov told the journalists.
He said that one of the main goals during the final two games against the Swedes, aside from winning the Eurotour, was "building a strong team."
As to the problems in the team's performance, Krikunov mentioned primarily "the tactical coordination between units." "It is also necessary to improve performance when having advantage. We have not addressed this issue yet because I did not have time. I was an emergency problem-solver. I jumped in action at the last moment," the chief coach of the Russian National Team complained.
