Ufa, Russia (Sports Network) - Valeri Nichushkin scored the overtime winner to give Russia a 6-5 victory over Canada in the bronze medal game at the World Junior Championship.
Nail Yakupov scored twice for Russia, which had to fight off numerous Canadian comeback attempts before finally winning it in the extra session. Canada went down 2-0 and 3-1 before knotting the contest at 3-3, then trailed 4-3 and 5-4 before tying it each time.
Nichushkin ended it with a brilliant goal just 1:35 into the overtime period. He raced down the right wing and drove to the net from the corner before stuffing a shot past Canadian goaltender Malcolm Subban.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who plays for the Edmonton Oilers, posted a goal and three assists for the Canadians, who failed to pick up a medal for the first time in 15 years.
Canada went unbeaten in round-robin play, beating the United States and Russia in the process, but lost to the Americans in the semifinals before also falling to the Russians on Saturday.
The United States and Sweden were set to play for the gold medal later Saturday.
