Canucks: Breaking down Vasili Podkolzin’s WJC game versus Canada

Vancouver Canucks prospect Vasili Podkolzin and his Russian counterparts faced off against Canada in a lopsided World Junior Championships semi-final matchup.

Vancouver Canucks prospect Vasili Podkolzin had an electric performance against an elite Canadian squad in the World Junior semi-finals.

Unfortunately, the Russians fell by a score of 5-0, as the Canadians’ star power outmatched them as a whole.

As per usual, Podkolzin’s powerful, intelligent play style was on full display throughout the game. Podkolzin made several eye-catching plays despite the more robust and skilled opposition relative to the rest of the Russian roster.

So, in this article, we will fully break down Podkolzin’s game to give Canucks fans some further insight into Vancouver’s top prospect, despite the crushing loss.

First period: Canada’s hot start

Podkolzin started the game alongside Marat Khusnutdinov and Rodion Amirov, facing off against Canada’s top line of Dylan Cozens, Connor McMichael and Jakob Pelletier. He chipped the puck back to the Russian defence off the opening faceoff to begin the game.

His first shift was pretty quiet. He made a few of his textbook plays along the boards, leading to unsuccessful dump-ins for the Russians. He finished the shift by laying the body on alternate Canadian captain Bowen Byram, forcing a dump and ultimately the recovery of possession for Russia.

After Podkolzin left the ice, the Canadians went to work, quickly jumping to a 1-0 lead early from a nifty Alex Newhook shot.

Podkolzin began his second shift with an errant pass out of Russia’s zone, leading to an icing call, without much to report after that.

Podkolzin’s third shift was his most noticeable thus far. He transitioned the puck into Canada’s zone, laying it off to Semyon Chistyakov for a shot on goal. He then took a stab himself near the goal line which caught goaltender Devon Levi off guard, but the shot was ultimately deflected.

The game was physical from the get-go, with every player finishing their checks and making the extra effort at times, yet Podkolzin still looked confident.

Canada pounced on Russia’s every mistake, and the skill disparity was on display whenever Russia’s top line wasn’t on the ice. Honestly, Podkolzin was the only Russian skater to match Canada’s intensity.

Midway through the period, the Canadians scored their second goal of the game, which Podkolzin was on the ice for. He was a little overzealous in his defensive play, scrambling to finish his checks, and caught himself in no man’s land in an attempt to stop the goal.

At the 12:50 mark, Podkolzin took a four-minute high-sticking penalty on a Byram dump-in. This left the Russians a man down and without one of their best players for most of the time remaining in the first.

In the second half of the penalty, the Canadians capitalized, as Cole Perfetti shot rifled a shot from the right circle, giving them a gutwrenching 3-0 lead.

In Podkolzin’s first shift after the penalty, he got into a puck battle at Canada’s blue line, which ended in a thunderous check on Kaiden Guhle.

https://twitter.com/ChrisFaber39/status/1346244555595661313?s=20

This hit seemed to invigorate Podkolzin, as he headed straight for the net subsequently after, and got in a scuffle with Guhle after the whistle.

In the closing minutes of the first, Podkolzin had his second offensive look of the game, taking the puck at the neutral zone and streamlining his way to the net, only to be thwarted by Jamie Drysdale, who extinguished Podkolzin’s attempt with a slick stick check.

The period ended with a resounding 3-0 Canada lead. Shots also tipped in Canada’s favour, finishing 16-7.

Podkolzin’s board play wasn’t as dominant in the first, but that’s to be expected when facing the tournament’s out-and-out favourites.

This certainly wasn’t one of Podkolzin’s best periods of the tournament by any means, but then again, nobody on Russia played well.