COLOGNE, Germany -- Nikita Kucherov sealed a 5-3 win for Russia in the bronze-medal match against Finland at the ice hockey world championship on Sunday.
"It's not the medal we wanted," Russia head coach Oleg Znarok said.
Nikita Gusev scored twice and quick-fire goals from Vladimir Tkachyov (short-handed) and Bogdan Kiselevich put the Russians in command.
Mikko Rantanen, then Mikko Lehtonen and Veli-Matti Savinainen dragged Finland back in the final period, with Savinainen scoring on a power play after Gusev was penalized for high sticking.
But Kucherov threw himself at his own rebound after Harri Sateri made the save to seal the Russians' triumph, a consolation of sorts for their semifinal loss to Canada on Saturday.