The hockey season in Russia did not end with the identification of the winner of the Gagarin Cup. Although our national team misses the final stage of the Eurotour and the World Cup, the fans still got the opportunity to see the “red car” in action.

In Tula, the first friendly match was held with the participation of the national teams of Russia and Belarus. Hockey fans did not have to be bored – the teams scored seven goals together, even the goalkeeper managed to excel.

Nikolaev celebrated so famously that he had to be replaced!

Experimental build

Our team, as well as the opponent, was represented by far from the strongest line-up. Of course, there were no stars from the NHL, and just the usual collections from the clubs of the Continental Hockey League. The basis of the “red car” of the experimental assembly was the youth, for whom it was a great honor to play for the main team after a long season, even taking into account the absence of any prospects of being in the World Cup. Sergei Zubov led this ambitious team in the Tula match.

The Russians quickly managed to print the opponent’s gate and left for a break, leading in the long run. However, in the second period the Belarusians made it clear that they were not going to give up easily. Our rivals compared the scores twice in a 20-minute period – by the next long pause, each team had two goals in the asset.

In the middle of the third period, Fedor Svechkov scored an important goal, but it was too early for the fans in the stands and at the screens to relax. Our hockey players were in the minority less than four minutes before the end of the period. The coaching staff of the Belarusian national team decided to take a chance by removing the goalkeeper. This step did not justify itself, but it allowed our goalkeeper Dmitry Nikolaev to perform a small hockey miracle.

After the throw-in in the zone of the Russian national team, none of the field players really managed to take possession of the puck. Chaotic projectile throwing ended in the possessions of Nikolaev, who decided to test his sniper skills.

Open video

The Belarusian hockey player started chasing the puck, since it didn’t move too fast, but still he couldn’t leave the Russian goalkeeper without a goal. A goalkeeper’s goal is a rare event, so Nikolaev did not hold back his emotions. However, Dmitry went a little too far with the celebration of the goal, unexpectedly finding himself at his bench. Such a move threatened Russia with another two-minute removal – Zubov, in order to avoid problems, had to quickly change the joyful goalkeeper to Maxim Tretiak.

A curious goal, which became the decoration of the match, left almost no chance for the Belarusians in this match. Our hockey players, by the way, then scored for the fifth time – Marat Khairullin scored. The victory with a score of 5:2 was a pleasant gift from the national team on the festive Day of Spring and Labor. Belarusians will have chances to take revenge on May 2.