RUSSIA ENDS ATLANTIC HOPES WITH COMEBACK WIN

TIMMINS, Ont. – In the end, one great period just wasn’t enough for Atlantic to keep its semifinal hopes alive at the 2010 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Brent Andrews scored twice and added an assist as the Canadian side outshot Russia 16-7 in the first period and led 3-1, but the Russians scored five unanswered goals over the final 40 minutes to score a 6-3 on Friday afternoon and officially eliminate Atlantic from gold medal contention.

Mikhail Grigorenko led the charge for Russia (2-1), racking up two goals and two assists in the all-important third period as the European side turned a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead in the span of 6:51 in the final frame.

In addition to Grigorenko’s pair, Russia got goals from Alexander Khokhlachev, Andrey Sigarev, Egor Omelyanenko and Albert Yarullin. The win sets up a crucial game against the Czech Republic on Saturday in Kirkland Lake, which could decide Group B’s second semifinalist, depending on the outcome of Friday night’s Czech-Pacific game in Cochrane.

Bryce Milson scored the other goal for Atlantic, which finished the preliminary round at 0-1-0-3 and will play in either the 9th-place game in Timmins or 7th-place game in Iroquois Falls on Sunday.