Arseni Khatsei scored the tying goal midway through the second period and recorded the lone goal of the shootout as Russia closed Group B preliminary play at the 2011 World Junior A Challenge with a 3-2 over Canada East.
Despite the loss, Canada East (1-1) won their pool and advance straight to Friday's (Nov. 11) semifinal round at the Langley Events Centre.
The Russians (1-1) finished third in the group and will face the United States in a quarter-final tonight (Nov. 10) at 4 p.m.
The U.S. placed second in pool A after hammering Canada West 6-1 on Wednesday night.
Mario Lucia, a second round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild, led the way for the U.S. with two goals and an assist. The U.S. (1-1) used dominant special teams, scoring twice on the power play and twice more short-handed.
Canada West (0-2) faces Czech Republic (1-1) in the other quarter-final with that game set for 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 10.
Sweden (2-0) is also through to the semifinals.
In Wednesday's early game, Canada East held a 49-30 advantage in shots on goal through the game's 65 minutes — including 18-3 in the third period — but were continuously turned away by goaltender Andrei Vasilevski.
After his 47-save performance, he denied David Friedmann, Devin Shore and Tyson Spink in the shootout.
In the Canada West/United States showdown, Lucia set up Sean Kuraly and then scored one of his own for a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Vince Hinostroza and Alex Broadhurst both scored short-handed goals in the second period. Broadhurst is a seventh round draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Aaron Hadley ended Canada West's 108-minute scoring drought with a short-handed goal midway through the third, converting a two-on-one break feed from Evan Richardson.
Sam Herr and Lucia rounded out the scoring with goals 33 seconds apart late in the game.