Russia Men's National Hockey Team

TASS.RU

The meeting ended with the score 1:0 in favor of the Russian team

BEIJING, February 9th. /TASS/. The Russian national ice hockey team defeated the Swiss team with a score of 1:0 in the first match of the Olympic tournament in Beijing.

Anton Slepyshev (20th minute) scored the goal.

The national teams of Russia and Switzerland have not previously met at the Olympic tournaments. Russian hockey players for the first time started at the Olympics with a “dry” victory. The gates of the Russian team were defended by Ivan Fedotov, who repelled 33 shots.

The national teams of Russia and Switzerland play in group B with the teams of the Czech Republic and Denmark. Russian hockey players scored three points, the Swiss – 0.

The meeting between the Czechs and the Danes will be held on Wednesday and will begin at 16:00 Moscow time. In the next match, the Russian team will play with the Danes on February 11, and the Swiss will meet with the Czechs.

The winners of the three groups, as well as the best team from among the runners-up, will advance to the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament. The remaining eight teams will play in the playoff round for reaching the 1/4 finals.

The Russian team is the current Olympic champion. In Pyeongchang, Russian hockey players defeated the German team in the final with a score of 4:3 in overtime.

Source: tass.ru

Andrei Kuzmenko, a name on the radar of many NHL teams heading into the off-season, will miss the 2022 Olympics due to an injury.

Russia has been dealt a blow before even playing a game.

The men’s national team announced on Sunday that forward Andrei Kuzmenko will miss the tournament due to an unspecified injury.

Kuzmenko was not originally on Russia’s main roster but was expected to play if fully healthy. Kuzmenko is second in KHL scoring with 53 points in 45 games, with rumors emerging of heavy NHL interest in the 26-year-old winger. Kuzmenko had two points in two games at the past World Championship, his only major men’s IIHF event to date, after emerging as a true lethal offensive force in the top Russian league.

The Ottawa Senators have been linked to Kuzmenko, who has spent the past four years with SKA St. Petersburg. The KHL regular season will not finish as planned, with St. Petersburg entering the playoffs with a Bobrov Division-leading 68 points.

Source: thehockeynews.com