Russia opened their men's ice hockey tournament with a resounding victory over former Yugoslav state Slovenia and sent a message to the rest of the medal hopefuls.
Alexander Ovechkin fired the hosts nation into the lead, when Evgeni Malkin fed him on a 2 on 1 after only 1:18 in the first period, shooting into the roof of the Slovenian net. The Captain of the Washington Capitals showing why many have claimed he is the face of the Sochi games.
The Russians doubled their lead only two minutes later when Ovechkin tipped the puck over the blue line to Evgeni Malkin who fired past Robert Kristan, the Slovenian goaltender, low to the blocker side.
The Slovenian side, coached by Matjaz Kopitar, father of Anze, were lucky to be down only by two at the first intermission, as they were heavily outshot by the Russians, 18 to 4, though Russia at times had an air of arrogance about them by toying with the defence.
Slovenia pulled a goal back 1:43 into the second when Ziga Jeglic's snapshot flew into the top corner of the net after an assist from Mitja Robar. Russian defenceman Alexei Yemelin may have obstructed the view of his own goaltender in the process.
Much of Russia's first period dominance died down in the second, registering half the amount of shots as they had in the opening period. The Slovenia defence closed the middle of the ice and therefore forcing the Russians to the outside on the attack. However, towards the end of the period when goalscorer Jeglic went to the penalty box Ilya Kovalchuk restored Russia's 2 goal lead after Malkin's pass from the office behind the net.
Ziga Jeglic made up for his penalty only 68 seconds later when he netted his second of the game, demonstrating speed and precision in the process before he shot low past Semyon Varlamov. A closer contest than the Russians would have liked, or perhaps even expected going into the final 20.
Russia claimed a fourth goal 3:59 into the third period, Valeri Nichushkin rushing the net before slipping the puck through the five hole. The replay had to go upstairs though, as he crashed into Kristan after the puck had gone in.
Just four minutes later Russia extended their lead even further when defenceman Anton Belov scored a slapshot from the blue line, assists coming from Nikita Nikitin and Alexei Tereshenko.
Russia now look forward to what should be a tasty encounter with their traditional rivals America, who defeated Slovakia 7-1.
