The United States will not have an opportunity to defend its 2013 World Junior Championship title. Russia defeated them in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 tournament on Thursday morning, 5-3, mostly thanks to an undisciplined American team that couldn’t stay out of the penalty box in the second and early part of the third periods.
World Junior hockey 2014: Russia eliminates USA, taunts them
The end of the Russia vs. USA contest in the quarterfinals of the 2014 WJC got a bit ugly.
In the third period, Russia did a fantastic job of sealing off just about every U.S. chance, and the defending champs spent most of the period simply trying to crack the Russian zone. They finally applied some pressure late in the third, but when Boston University's Matt Grzelcyk fumbled a puck at his own blue line in the final minute, New York Rangers prospect Pavel Buchnevich picked up the loose puck and sealed the deal with an empty net goal.
That’s when it got ugly.
Buchnevich -- who, we should mention, is just 18 years old -- taunted the American bench following the goal. As he got to the end of the line, Ryan Hartman -- age 19 -- of the U.S. stuck out his stick and caught Buchnevich in the face. It's subtle in this GIF, but it's there right at the end. Not cool.
Buchnevich actually wound up in the penalty box, holding his face as he sat for the final seconds of the game, but that power play was obviously inconsequential.
This, however, may not be inconsequential. One Russian coach umm... gestured back at the American bench following the whole incident.
We’re not sure exactly which coach that is, but assuming he’s at least 40 years old, he’s twice the age of every player in this tournament. Nice work, buddy.
GIFs via @PeteBlackburn
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