Super Sunday at the Winter Olympics kicked off with the Group B matchup between powerhouses Czech Republic and Russia. The Czechs had a golden opportunity to take one of the top two seeds in the medal rounds with a win over the vaunted Russians, who were looking for vengeance after a tough shootout loss to the Slovaks.
After a pensive opening to the game, Russia’s first period dominance paid off, as Evgeni Malkin opened the scoring with a powerplay goal that just snuck through Tomas Vokoun. The Russians outshot the Czechs 12-5 in the period, but Tomas Plekanec gave the Czechs hope with his goal in the last minute of play in the first, beating Nabokov with a quick wrister on a 5-on-3 powerplay. Viktor Kozlov scored a similar goal for the Russians in the 2nd, making a quick spin and catching Tomas Vokoun offguard with a low shot to the back post, putting the Russians ahead for good.
In the 3rd, Malkin gave Russia some much needed breathing room with his 2nd goal of the day, finishing a play started by Alex Ovechkin’s huge open ice hit on Jaromir Jagr. Give credit to the Czechs, though, who battled hard in the 3rd, and drew within a single goal when Milan Michalek buried a nice pass from Marek Zidlicky who had worked the puck deep in behind the Russian net before dishing it out front for the Sens’ winger. With the game ending up so close, there will inevitably be discussion about a no-goal called late in the 2nd. On a Czech shot, the puck slipped through Nabokov’s pads, and Jaromir Jagr had a golden opportunity to tie the game, but was unable to reach the loose puck. In the struggle, it appeared as though Andrei Markov gloved the puck in the crease before it eventually trickled in after the whistle was blown. If the puck was indeed gloved, tit should have at least resulted in a penalty shot, but no call was made, and it may have ended up costing the Czechs the game.
Pavel Datsyuk added an empty net goal to seal the game with 13 ticks left in the game, assisted by Malkin and Ovechkin, giving Malkin a goal and two assists on the game. Vokoun looked pretty solid in net, making 27 saves on 30 shots, while Nabokov stopped just about everything he he could have, snaring 23 of the 25 shots he faced. Russia will now wait to see where they’ll be seeded, after earning themselves a bye to the quarterfinals. With 7 points, they won’t have much of a shot at the first overall seed, but escaping this tough group with a first round bye will be reward enough for the Russians.