Important win for Russia against Slovakia

It was an even and entertaining game that could have ended either way. But it the end it was Russia that took all three points that they will bring to the next round while the host nation will go to the second round without any points at all after losing both to Germany and Russia.

Aleksandr Radulov shocked and silenced the home crowd with 1-0 already at 58 seconds. A nice shot who went in by they post and left Halak with no chance to save. But only 30 seconds later the volume was high again. Miroslav Satan tied the game with a shot on volley on rebound after a shot from Ladislav Nagy.

After that it felt like Slovakia was the some what better team but Ilya Nikulin gave Russia the lead with a shot from the blueline, the shot went in by Halak's glove and the post.

Russia had a great chance to extend their league on a long power play early in the second period but failed to score. Instead Marian Gaborik tied the game halfway through. Assisted by Demitra Gaborik rounded Nabokov and scored in an empty net. Less then two minutes later Nabokov conceded another goal and was replaced by Konstantin Barulin. The goal was scored by Ladislav Nagy.



"I do not think it was a key factor of our victory but I felt like he was not having his best game, so I decided to put Barulin in after the third goal", Vyacheslav Bykov said about the goalie change. Barulin himself said: "Nabokov wished me good luck. It was not easy situation for me, but I felt absolutely ready for the game and I am very satisfied with my performance. The coach said to us after the game, that the next game will be Nabokov starting goalie again."

Slovakia and the coach Glen Hanlon weren't pleased with the referees after several penalties in the second period, however the penalties seemed to be correct. On one of the power plays Ilya Nikulin tied the game with his second goal of the game after a fantastic shot. Despite that goal the Russian head coach wasn't pleased with his team's power plays. "I am not satisfied with the way we played our power-plays and we have to improve them a lot. However, we played a good game and I have to thank our players"  Bykov said after the game.

In the third Slovakia came out strong and Surovy was very close to give them the lead but his shot hit the bar. Instead Morozov gave Russia the lead on the next attack with his back against the goal he scored with a backhand shot between his own legs. After that Slovakia got their first power plays of the game but they didn't create many chances on them. Slovakia tried to rally for an equalizer but Barulin didn't concede any goals and Russia won 4-3.



Despite the loss Hanlon was pleased with the effort of his team: "We played our best game on the tournament tonight. We did not win, but it was a close game with one goal difference in the end. We lost to a very good hockey team in an excellent game. We are happy with our improvement and the fans have very positive effect on us."

Ilya Kovalchuk was perhaps the best player on the ice with three assists for Russia. For Slovakia defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky who played his first game on the tournament after he recovered from a shoulder injury: "We wanted too much. Everybody could feel the big pressure and tried to tie the game too much. The nervosity moved to agony and we just could not get the puck into the net. We had very good penalty killing but we have to improve our power-plays", Visnovsky said after the game.

 

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