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BUFFALO, NY – Russia and Canada are prepared to renew their rivalry tonight with the winner taking home the Gold Medal.  This year marks the first time since 1999 that both quarter-finalists advanced past the Semi-finals to the championship game.  Puck drop between the two high-scoring powerhouses is scheduled for 7:30 PM at HSBC Arena.

The Canadians are coming off a dominant 4-1 victory over the United States in their Semi-final matchup Monday night.  Curtis Hamilton, Quinton Howden, Ryan Johansen, and Zack Kassian all contributed goals in the effort, while netminder Mark Visentin turned away 22 of 23 shots to pick up the win.

Canada enters action with the top-ranked power play overall (10 for 23) while also boasting 3 of the tournament’s top 6 scorers in Brayden Schenn (7G, 9A), Johansen (3G, 6A), and captain Ryan Ellis (2G, 7A).  Visentin sits atop all goaltenders with a .961 Save Percentage to go along with a 1.00 Goals Against Average.

The Russians, meanwhile, are riding a 4 game winning streak after dropping their first two games of the tournament.  Most recently, the squad upset Sweden in the Semi-finals with a 4-3 shootout victory.  Sergei Kalinin, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Denis Golubev lit the lamp in regulation, with Kalinin’s goal tying the game at 3 with just 1:27 remaining in the third period.  After an uneventful overtime, Golubev tallied the only goal in the shootout to clinch a berth in tonight’s game.  Dmitri Shikin was stellar between the pipes, finishing with 46 saves and denying all 3 of Sweden’s attempts in the shootout. Shikin currently holds an impressive .929 Save Percentage as well as a Goals Against Average of 2.47.

Russia’s dynamic offensive attack is led by their captain Tarasenko, who has produced 3 goals and 6 assists for a total of 9 points thus far.  Maxim Kitsyn (4G, 4A), Yevgeni Kuznetsov (4G, 4A) and Danil Sobchenko (4G, 3A) follow close behind, while Dmitri Orlov (1G, 8A) anchors the defensive corps. 

The two teams previously faced-off in the opening game of the preliminary round on December 26th.  With the contest tied at 3 heading into the third period, the Canadians cashed-in 2 power-play goals in the final period on their way to a 6-3 victory.  Since then, both clubs have made changes in goal, as Visentin and Shikin have replaced Olivier Roy and Igor Bobkov respectively.

From 2002-2007, the two teams met in the Gold Medal game in 5 of 6 years, with Canada winning three times and Russia twice.  The Russians are looking to bring home the Gold for the first time since 2003, while Canada has won Gold 5 of the past 6 years and will come out eager to avenge last year’s Gold Medal loss to the United States.