Russia Hands North America 4-3 Hockey Loss

By ESPN

For the first time since Team North America came together, coach Todd McLellan had to re-instill some belief.

With players slumping at their lockers after allowing Russia to score four goals in under seven minutes, McLellan told them they were better than they thought they were at that moment. Young North America was the better team Monday night, but a lopsided stretch was enough to give Russia a much-needed 4-3 victory in a fast-paced, end-to-end showcase of the sport at the World Cup of Hockey.

Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Kucherov, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Vladimir Tarasenko scored on consecutive shots during a 6:14 stretch, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 42 saves on 45 shots to hand the 23-and-under mix of American and Canadian players its first loss of the tournament.

"We just lost our way for 10 minutes," McLellan said. "I thought we were hesitant. ... They were quicker, they were stronger. They stripped us a number of times. We looked slow, and that's not the way we play. Slow reading, slow reacting and slow to the scoreboard."

Toronto Maple Leafs 2016 No. 1 pick Auston Matthews scored on a 2-on-1 rush off a pass from Edmonton Oilers 2015 No. 1 pick Connor McDavid, and Morgan Rielly and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had goals for North America (1-1), which outshot Russia 45-23.

Russia's goals in quick succession were "team goals," McLellan said, but they also led to the end of goaltender Matt Murray's night. Murray, who stopped the first 15 shots he faced before Russia broke through, jammed a thumb in the second period, but McLellan said he was healthy enough to play.

Murray was on the wrong end of a young team's mistakes. The efficiency of speed and skill that worked in a win over Finland on Sunday stopped for a short period of time against high-powered Russia, and it proved disastrous.