The Russians beat the Czechs today by a final score of 4-2. Evgeni Malkin tallied twice, book-ending a goal by former Cap Viktor Kozlov. Pavel Datsyuk scored on an empty net in the games final minute to seal the deal for the Russians.
The highlight of the game, however, came early in the third period when Jaromir Jagr carried the puck on a rush through the neutral zone and was absolutely annihilated by Alexander Ovechkin. As a dazed Jagr got to his skates, Alexander Semin picked up the puck in the Czech zone and zipped a sweet cross ice pass to Malkin who buried the puck past Vokoun for his second of the day.
With the exception of their struggling power play the Russians finally put together a complete game. Evgeni Nabokov played well, stopping 23 of 25 shots that he faced. This Russian team has been described as a hybrid between North American and European Hockey. They play with the physical presence and grit of the North Americans while displaying the traditional flash and dash of the Europeans. The Russians are at their best when they demonstrate this style of play and for today at least, they did.
As I mentioned earlier the Russian power play has struggled in the tournament. Today they went 1-3 and despite scoring it looked pitiful at times. A lineup with Ovechkin, Datsyuk, Malkin, Markov, Gonchar, Semin, and Kovalchuk should score more than twice in three games.
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