Two-time reigning world champions Russia began their ice hockey tournament at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver with a crushing 8-2 victory over Latvia.
The first period of the Group B opening game at the Canada Hockey Place ended 3-0 in favor of the Russians with goals scored by Danis Zaripov, Alexander Radulov and Alexander Ovechkin.
NHL Pittsburg Penguins forward Yevgeny Malkin scored the only goal of the second period to increase Russia's advantage in the score to 4-0.
Emotions heated up in the third period when Latvia's Herberts Vasiljevs scored past Russian goalie Yevgeny Nabokov some 30 seconds after the start of the period.
The Latvian goal roused the Russians back to life, with Ovechkin and Zaripov scoring their second goals 30 seconds apart and Ilya Kovalchuk adding the team's seventh a minute and a half later.
Latvia's Girts Ankipans responded to the series of goals, zipping the puck over Nabokov's left shoulder in the Russian goal, but with almost a minute of the match time remaining Russian captain Alexei Morozov scored the game's 10th goal, put a lid on the 8-2 win.
Russia, many people's pre-tournament favorites, will face tougher opposition in its remaining Group B games, against Slovakia on February 18 and the Czech Republic on February 21.
MOSCOW, February 17 (RIA Novosti)
