STOCKHOLM, January 4 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's national hockey under-20 team will contest the World Hockey Juniors' title, for the third consecutive year, following a 4-2 victory over host Sweden in the semifinals.
Sweden's Nicklas Backstrom gave Sweden a 1-0 lead, but the Russian team, led by head coach Evgeni Popikhin, made a comeback after a poor start, with goals from Igor Makarov and Alexei Cherepanov at the end of the first period, Artem Anisimov in the second, and Alexander Vasyunov early in the third. Niklas Hjalmarsson's power-play goal with nine minutes to go revitalized Swedish fans' expiring hopes, but Russia's goaltender Semyon Varlamov was perfect.
Russia and defending champions Canada, which edged out the United States 2-1 on penalty shots in the other semifinal, will meet in the juniors' final January 5 for the fifth time in the last six years. Russia won the title in 2002 and in 2003, while Canada won in 2005 and in 2006.
