Canada-Russia rivalry sparks brawl in pre-Olympic tournament
Roman Lyubimov scores winner in feisty 3-2 victory
Roman Lyubimov scored the winner on the power play as Russia held on for a 3-2 victory over Canada on Monday to wrap-up preliminary round play at the Sochi Hockey Open.
Stanislav Galiyev, on the power play, and Artyom Fyodorov also had goals for the Russians.
Gilbert Brule had a power-play goal to tie the game at 2-2 for Canada in the second period. Maxim Noreau also chipped in and Brandon Kozun had two assists.
Vladislav Sukhachyov and Igor Shestyorkin split time in net for Russia. Kevin Poulin took the loss.
Canada (1-1) won its tournament opener over HC Sochi 1-0 in overtime on Sunday.
The tournament is being used as an evaluation process for head coach Willie Desjardins ahead of next year's Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Things got feisty at the end of the second period when a number of players fought near the Canadian bench.
Even though it's just a preseason for Team Russia-2 and Team Canada, it's still good old time 🇷🇺 vs 🇨🇦 game. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SochiHockeyOpen?src=hash">#SochiHockeyOpen</a> <a href="https://t.co/Tl84L5YdI0">pic.twitter.com/Tl84L5YdI0</a>
—@khl_eng