Evgeni Malkin scored twice and Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves leading Russia (2-0-0-1 7pts) to a 4-2 win over Czech Republic (2-1-0-0, 6 pts) Sunday afternoon.
Rivals Evgeni Malkin (2 goals, 1 assist) and Alexander Ovechkin (1 assist) played on the same line for the first time in the tournament, combining for 4 points as the Russians rebounded from a disappointing loss Thursday night to Slovakia.
Ovechkin was limited to only one assist but fueled the Russian’s win with a game changing shoulder-to-head open ice hit on Czech Republic star Jaromir Jagr that led to an odd-man rush for the Russian’s and Evgeni Malkin netting his second goal of the game to give Russia a 3-1 lead.
Czech Republic’s Milan Michalek scored at 14:51 of the third period to cut Russia’s lead to 3-2 but Russia’s Pavel Datsyuk scored an empty net goal with 13 seconds remaining to seal the win for Russia.
Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin led all scorers with 3 points and has 5 points in three games.
