MOSCOW, December 16 (R-Sport) – Goals from Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk brought Russia a 3-1 victory over Finland at their home Euro Hockey Tour stage Sunday to maintain a perfect record.
It was a third win in three games for the star-studded hosts at the Moscow Megasport arena, leaving the team led by Zinetula Bilyaletdinov top of the standings.
Vadim Shipachev gave Russia the lead in the second period by converting a superb pass by Ilya Kovalchuk. Pittsburgh Penguins center Malkin doubled the hosts’ lead two minutes later.
The off-color Finns hauled themselves back into the reckoning with a goal from CSKA Moscow defenseman Mikko Maenpaa on 35 minutes, but Kovalchuk buried any lingering hopes of a comeback with a goal at the start of the third period.
Russia demolished both of its first two opponents in the Channel One Cup, starting with a 5-1 thrashing of Sweden followed by a 6-0 victory over the Czech Republic that featured a hat-trick from Pavel Datsyuk.
Later Sunday, Sweden face the Czechs in the last match of the tournament.
