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Author: Lucas Aykroyd (IHWC.net)

Date: 05/07/2006

Ovechkin leads Russian assault on Kazakhstan (IHWC recap)

2006 World Championships

Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) at the 2005 U20 WJC press conference (Photo Source: RussianProspects Exclusive)

The Russians struck fast and early with a relentless, overwhelming force. That might sound like the first half of Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising, but it was actually the script for a tournament-opening 10-1 rout of Kazakhstan Saturday night in Riga.

Full of youthful enthusiasm with 12 1980's-born players, the Superleague-laden Russian roster completely outskated, outpassed, and outchanced their opponents. Their 10 goals came on just 27 shots, and six were power play markers.

"Naturally, a coach is satisfied with victory," said Russian Head Coach Vladimir Krikunov. "Especially one as good as this, although from my coaching point of view, there were some mistakes."

Alexander Ovechkin, already achieving legendary status at age 20, led the way with three goals, and Alexander Semin also had a hat trick, while Evgeni Malkin added a goal and three assists. Denis Arkhipov contributed a goal and an assist, Alexander Semin had two goals, and Konstantin Gorovikov and Dmitri Bykov scored for Russia too. Ilya Nikulin added four assists and Danis Zaripov had a pair.

"We wanted to show that we're a good team and we've come to this tournament to play," said Arkhipov. "We jumped on a couple of mistakes early, scored a couple of goals. This team had the power play working tonight, which is important."

Yevgeniy Koreshkov replied for Kazakhstan, which fired 17 shots at Russian netminder Sergei Zvyagin.

"We had 40 penalty minutes and that's considerable," said Kazakh Head Coach Nikolay Myshagin. "But we have limited financial possibilities and we're doing our best. These championships require serious preparation. We had one test game in Finland. One is too few for this kind of preparation. But this Russian team is good, and their target is on victory. This is a good sign that they might be future champs."

At 1:36 Ovechkin opened the scoring, racing to the net and putting a perfect feed from Evgeni Malkin past Kazakh netminder Roman Medvedev.

For Denis Arkhipov, wearing #79 probably wasn't a tribute to Alexei Yashin, but he imitated the New York Islanders center's power when his point shot through traffic eluded Medvedev at 2:44 for a 2-0 Russian lead.

Just after the midway point of the first period, it was 3-0 after Konstantin Gorovikov schooled the Kazakh defense on a beautiful give-and-go play where he charged to the net to tip home an Igor Grigorenko feed.

At 12:31, Kazakh rearguard Yevgeniy Blokhin incurred the wrath of the crowd when he charged at Ovechkin in the corner deep in the Kazakh zone and hammered the superstar's head against the glass. It was not a clean hit by any means, and Blokhin deservedly received two minutes plus a misconduct for checking to the head, but at the same time, Ovechkin did duck at the last second. The 20-year-old ace doubled over in pain after the hit but would return to the ice at the 15:40 mark.

Playing 4-on-3, the Kazakhs cut the deficit to 3-1 when Yevgeniy Koreshkov, standing on the doorstep, converted his brother Alexandr's slick pass from the left faceoff circle.

But Kazakh hopes of a comeback died at 18:48 when Russian defenseman Dmitri Bykov pinched in deep on a Russian man advantage, picked up a bouncing puck in his skates, and whacked it over Medvedev's shoulder to make it 4-1.

Alexander Semin rattled Medvedev's mask with a howitzer from just inside the Kazakh with just two seconds left in the first period, resulting in a stoppage in plays. Somehow, Semin's aim didn't seem coincidental.

At 4:13 of the middle frame, Russia went up 5-1 when Evgeni Malkin controlled the puck behind Medvedev's cage before dishing it in front to Ovechkin, whose one-timer found the corner of the net for his second of the game.

Malkin won a battle of pokechecks to notch Russia's 6-1 tally at 6:41 while shorthanded. He first knocked the puck away from Yevgeniy Koreshkov in the neutral zone and jumped in behind the Kazakh defense, and then beat out Medvedev in a race for the disc as he catapulted through the air whilst poking it home.

"He's a really exciting player," said Arkhipov of Malkin. "He took advantage of a turnover and scored. We were all impressed."

At 9:39, Ovechkin completed his hat trick on the power play, taking an Malkin pass on the right side, exploding toward the net around a Kazakh defender, and knifing a backhand past Medvedev. (No hats or even horns were thrown on the ice to commemorate this feat, however.)

That was it for the beleaguered Kazakh goalie, who was mercifully replaced by the veteran Sergey Tambulov at this point. But Tambulov didn't fare much better, as Semin pounced on a loose puck near the crease and lifted a wicked backhand home at 12:24 of the second, putting Russia up 8-1.

Semin added two more goals in the third period to round out the scoring.

"It's important to respect all opponents," said Krikunov. "God forbid, if we lose, then everyone will forget this first victory."

Russia's next foe is Belarus on May 8, while Kazakhstan takes on Slovakia that day.

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