Team Russia wins a spirited match against Team Canada West

TRAIL, BC, CANADA - Cominco Memorial Arena

2007 WORLD JUNIOR A CHALLENGE - NOVEMBER 5 - 11, 2007 - TRAIL/NELSON, BC CANADA

Wednesday Game photo galleries and Game summary can be viewed in this story.

Close to 3000 fans crowded into the Trail Memorial area on Wednesday evening (Nov 5, 2007) to watch Team Canada West lose 4 to 2 in a spirited game of World Junior hockey against Russia. Team Russia led by superb goaltending and special teams turned in a solid game outperforming Team Canada West in their 2nd game of the World Junior A Challenge Championships being hosted in Trail BC.

The many citizens of Trail and visitors to this Western Canadian city known for being rich in hockey history watched with anticipation throughout two periods as Russia led 2 to 0 heading into the 3rd period of this preliminary game of the 2007 World Junior A Challenge.

Russia was able to hold off Canada West during a more exciting third period comeback by Canada West, when Evgeny Grachev stole the puck at the Canada West blue line and sent a hard wrist shot past Canada West goaltender Bradley Eidsness with less than 3 minutes to go in the 3rd period.

The game-winning goal was padded with a 4th in the Canada West net and gave Russia the 4-2 win over the disappointed Canada West team. Russia's win gives them an automatic berth in the semi-finals on Saturday.

During the game Russia saw superb goaltending from Danila Alistratov and their special teams and were the difference throughout the game, allowing them to score on power plays and kill off numerous consecutive penalties.

1st period action: Click image thumbnails to see larger images

2nd period action: Click image thumbnails to see larger images

3rd period action: Click image thumbnails to see larger images

Game Summary available on page 2: Click Next link below for game summary on page 2.