VANCOUVER—Russia held strong against a late-game surge by the Czechs to win 4–2 in the first of the “Super Sunday” games in the men’s Olympic hockey competition.
With the win, the Russians finished first in Group B and will get a bye to the quarterfinals.
You knew from the warm ups that this would be a terrific game as the players leapt to the ice showing that each of these titans of hockey wanted to rule the game. With both teams stacked with NHL superstars, North American hockey fans were keenly interested.
Russia’s Evgeni Malkin scored the game’s first goal on a power play after Jaromir Jagr was sent to the box for holding, late in the first period.
The Czechs finished the first period with a two-man advantage after two Russians, Konstantin Korneyev and Sergei Federov were sent to the penalty box one after the other. In the final minute of the period, the Czechs tied it up when Tomas Plekanec scored.
The Russians dominated the first period outshooting the Czechs 12–5. But the Czechs settled into the game in the second period and outshot the Russians 9–7.
Russian flags certainly dominated in Canada Hockey Place though Canadian jerseys veritably filled the majority of the seats.
The Russians scored their second goal late in the second period when Viktor Kozlov tallied.
The turning point of the game came early in the third period when Russia’s Alexander Ovechin leveled Jagr, freeing up the puck so Malkin could score his second of the game.
With five minutes left in the game, Milan Michalek scored a second goal for the Czechs.
The Czechs then threw everything they had at the Russians, pulling their goalkeeper Tomas Vokoun with 30 seconds left in the game. But it cost them another goal when Russia’s Pavel Datsyuk flipped one into the empty net with 13 seconds remaining. Ovechkin battled hard to free the puck from his own zone to set up Datsyuk.
The Czechs will need to wait and see where they fall in the ranking of teams after all games are completed. They had a great start to the tournament but now, things are a little bit more complicated.
Russia has bounced back nicely after a shocking loss to the Slovaks.
With the win, the Russians finished first in Group B and will get a bye to the quarterfinals.
You knew from the warm ups that this would be a terrific game as the players leapt to the ice showing that each of these titans of hockey wanted to rule the game. With both teams stacked with NHL superstars, North American hockey fans were keenly interested.
Russia’s Evgeni Malkin scored the game’s first goal on a power play after Jaromir Jagr was sent to the box for holding, late in the first period.
The Czechs finished the first period with a two-man advantage after two Russians, Konstantin Korneyev and Sergei Federov were sent to the penalty box one after the other. In the final minute of the period, the Czechs tied it up when Tomas Plekanec scored.
The Russians dominated the first period outshooting the Czechs 12–5. But the Czechs settled into the game in the second period and outshot the Russians 9–7.
Russian flags certainly dominated in Canada Hockey Place though Canadian jerseys veritably filled the majority of the seats.
The Russians scored their second goal late in the second period when Viktor Kozlov tallied.
The turning point of the game came early in the third period when Russia’s Alexander Ovechin leveled Jagr, freeing up the puck so Malkin could score his second of the game.
With five minutes left in the game, Milan Michalek scored a second goal for the Czechs.
The Czechs then threw everything they had at the Russians, pulling their goalkeeper Tomas Vokoun with 30 seconds left in the game. But it cost them another goal when Russia’s Pavel Datsyuk flipped one into the empty net with 13 seconds remaining. Ovechkin battled hard to free the puck from his own zone to set up Datsyuk.
The Czechs will need to wait and see where they fall in the ranking of teams after all games are completed. They had a great start to the tournament but now, things are a little bit more complicated.
Russia has bounced back nicely after a shocking loss to the Slovaks.
