| |||||||||||||||||||
| Date | May 18, 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena | Colisée Pepsi | ||||||||||||||||||
| City | Quebec City | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 13,339 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
The2008 IIHF World Championship final was an ice hockey match that took place on 18 May 2008 at theColisée Pepsi inQuebec City,Canada, to determine the winner of the2008 IIHF World Championship. Russia defeated Canada 5–4 in overtime to win its 2nd championship.
The game marked the first time that Russia and Canada met in the final of a World Championship. It was Russia's third finals appearance, and the first since2002. It was Canada's fifth appearance in the finals in six years, and having won the2007 World Championship in Russia, they were the defending champions.
TheColisée Pepsi inQuebec City was chosen to host the final of the championship. Previously at the tournament, the venue hosted both the semi-finals, and the Bronze medal match. In the final, the attendance was 13,339.
Alexander Semin scored right in front of the net on a pass fromAlexander Ovechkin at 1:23 into the first period, after a defensive pass by the Canadians hit a referee's skate and redirected to Ovechkin. Moments laterBrent Burns took a shot from the point, which beatEvgeni Nabokov on the stick side, to tie up the game for team Canada.Chris Kunitz then capitalized on a defensive zone turnover by the Russians, and scored top shelf to make the score 2–1 for Canada. At 14:51 of the first, on a 5-on-3, Burns scored his second of the game from the top of the crease.
1:14 into the second period, Semin scored his second, on a one-timer to bring the Russians within 1. The Canadians responded soon after whenDany Heatley banked one in short-side to restore the two-goal lead, 4–2.
At 8:55 into the third periodAlexei Tereshchenko grabbed a loose puck in the slot, and pushed it in five-hole on Ward. With under 7 minutes leftIlya Kovalchuk took a wrist shot that beat a heavily trafficked Canadian crease to tie the game 4–4 for Russia.
In overtimeRick Nash was sent to thepenalty box fordelay of game when he shot the puck over the glass. In the resulting Russianpowerplay Kovalchuk scored his second to give Russia a winning goal, 5–4 final score. It was the first World Championship for Russia since 1993, ending a 15-year drought.
| May 18, 2008 13:00 | Canada  | 4 – 5OT ( 3–1, 1–1, 0–2 ) (OT: 0–1 ) |  Russia | Colisée Pepsi,Quebec City,Quebec Attendance: 13,339 |
| |||||
