Russia went into the IIHF World Championships as one of the most motivated teams after their embarrassing loss to Canada in the Olympics and they continued their dominance in World Championship play, winning 8 straight games to advance to the Gold Medal game Sunday night against Czech Republic.
However, the Czech Republic stunned Russia Sunday night, ending a 27-game Russian win streak at the IIHF World Championships with a 2-1 gold medal victory.
It was another disappointing finish for the Russians who got a boost for the final five games of the tournament when Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar joined the team last weekend.
Malkin, the 2008-2009 Art Ross Trophy winner, had a solid tournament scoring five goals and two assists in five games played.
Malkin was effective on the power play scoring three power play goals in the tournament. Malkin is coming off a playoff run with the Pittsburgh Penguins where four of his five playoff goals came on the power play.
Malkin’s decision to play in the tournament has put to rest any speculation that the Penguins star center was injured during their playoff run.
Defenseman Sergei Gonchar had four assists in the tournament, including a +2 rating.