Russia put their talent on full display Monday afternoon to open the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
The Russians fired 60 shots on the Finland net and cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Finns in Pool B play at Servus Arena.
Vasili Podkolzin, a likely first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft led the way for Russia with a goal and two assists.
Arseni Gritsyuk added a pair of goals and Red Deer Rebels centre Oleg Zaitsev also scored his first of the tournament late in the third period.
“This is a new experience for me and I want to test myself in North American hockey,” said Zaitsev through a translator.
”Our goal is pretty simple, we want first place.”
Podkolzin said he liked the way the game went for his club and believes they will have a shot at gold in the event.
“We did well except the first period. Then we skated a lot and we played well and score a lot of goals,” said Podkolzin through a translator about the win.
“For me and for the team, we want to win this one and I’m going to be happy if we achieve that goal.”
Ilya Nikolayev also added a pair of assists for Russia.
In the Finnish net, Roope Taponen stood tall in the first period with 21 stops. Taponen was busy the rest of the afternoon with 53 saves total in the contest. Vladimir Sartakov turned aside 24 shots for Russia.
Russia will take on the Czech Republic on Tuesday afternoon, while the Finns will square off against the U.S. in the 7 p.m. game at Servus Arena.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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