Russia beats Sweden 4-2

Evgeni Malkin scored the winning goal and assisted on another as Russia remained undefeated with a 4-2 win over defending champion Sweden at the ice hockey world championship on Monday.

Photo: Russia beats Sweden 4-2

Also, Canada downed the United States 6-3.

In the quarterfinals, Russia will face the Czech Republic, Sweden will play Slovakia, unbeaten Canada meets Switzerland, and the Americans take on Finland.

Malkin's slap shot from the high slot at 9:51 of the third period beat Sweden goalie Erik Ersberg low on the stick side to put Russia up 3-2.

Alexei Morozov put the game out of reach at 16:33 when he took a pass from Sergei Zinoviev and wristed in a shot from the faceoff circle, the AP reports.

The Russians also kept intact their proud record of never losing a world championship game in Moscow.

The Russian capital is hosting its fifth world tournament with the home team winning the gold each time except the first edition in 1957 when they finished second to Sweden after a 4-4 draw in the last game of the round-robin series.

Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin broke a 2-2 deadlock midway through the third period, firing a bullet slap-shot from 15 metres past Swedish goaltender Erik Ersberg after a nice feed from Alexander Frolov.

Morozov, the tournament's top goalscorer, then sealed Russia's win with his second of the game and eighth of the championship with less than three minutes remaining to bring a capacity 14,000-strong home crowd at the new Khodynka Arena to their feet.

Despite both Sweden and Russia already assured of securing quarter-final spots, neither team backed off in what turned out to be an exciting contest, Reuters reports.

As Pravda.ru previously reported Alexander Ovechkin received a one-game suspension Sunday for a hit to the head of Switzerland player Valentin Wirz at the hockey world championship.

Ovechkin was ejected from Russia's 6-3 win over Switzerland at 8:42 of the first period for a check to the head of Wirz, who needed to be helped off the ice.

After serving a too-many-men-on-the-ice minor for Russia in the first period, Ovechkin stepped out of the penalty box and laid a high hit on Wirz.

Ovechkin will miss Monday's game against Sweden . Russia has already qualified for the quarterfinals of the tournament with a 5-0 record.

Source: agencies

Prepared by Alexander Timoshik
Pravda.ru