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Russia defeats Czech Republic 4-3 in WCH2016 pre-tournament match

By Ian Oland

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September 8, 2016 10:20 pm

Thursday, Team Russia hosted the Czech Republic at St. Petersberg’s Yubileyny Arena. It was the first time the Caps troika of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Orlov had played an organized game since winning a bronze medal in the 2016 World Championship on May 22.

After falling behind early, Russia took a commanding lead before needing a ridiculous split save from Sergei Bobrovski in the final minute to hold onto the 4-3 win. Dmitry Orlov tallied a secondary assist while Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov went scoreless.

The most fun part of the game was when Orly got in a heated confrontation with Jakub Voracek after the Flyers forward knocked over Sergei Bobrovski in front of the net.

Both players were given matching minors for roughing.

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Evgeny Kuznetsov was also adorable during the intermission interview.

Kuzy Intermission Interview

“It’s first game,” Kuznetsov said. “It’s always tough. We’re not at our best form right now. We just trying to build our game.”

Later, Kuznetsov said Russia needed to “score some dirty goals” and “find the team spirit and a little bit of chemistry” (pronounced chem-is-tree).

“First game, felt a bit nervous,” Alex Ovechkin said in the locker room to Elena Kuznetsova of Championat. “In the second period, the nerves calmed down, and we played well. The last part if the game… We are still lacking in reading each other, and we don’t feel the puck very well. We’ll play much better in the next game.”

Saturday, Russia will face the Czechs again, but this time in the Czech Republic. See you at 10:30am!

Full Highlights

Remainders

Additional Photos

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Photos via the Russian Hockey Federation

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