07 | February | 2010 | Russkiy Hockey

Host City: Torino, Italy
February 15-16, 2006
RESULT: 4TH PLACE

Russia was not considered to be the favourite to win the gold medal, but new team manager Pavel Bure was very committed to creating the best possible team. After the roster was selected, injuries hit hard – Nikolai Khabibulin, Alexei Zhitnik, Dmitry Bykov, and Alexei Zhamnov had to be replaced by Maxim Sokolov, Vitali Vishnevsky, Sergei Zhukov, and Alexander Korolyuk. After losing to the Slovaks in the first match, coach Vladimir Krikunov benched goalie Ilya Bryzalov and went with Evgeni Nabokov, who made his long-awaited Team Russia debut with back-to-back shutouts. Unfortunately, Russia failed to win a medal in men’s hockey for just the second time in its Olympic history. In easily the most memorable hockey game of the Torino Olympics, Russia finally faced Canada for the first time since the NHL began to send its best players to the Olympics. Both teams played conservatively until the third period, when who else but Ovechkin finally broke the scoreless tie. Russia’s quarterfinal win over Canada was glorious, but it drained all the energy from the team, leading to very tired and sluggish performances in the last two matches. In the semifinal match against Finland, Russia was left with only eleven forwards due to Malkin’s suspension and injuries to Frolov and Korolyuk. The team also failed to realize any scoring chance in the bronze medal match against the Czechs. On the bright side, this was a younger team with fewer controversies than usual.

Game 1: Russia 3 – Slovakia 5
Goals: Datsyuk (D. Markov), Kovalev (Datsyuk, Kovalchuk), Ovechkin (Gonchar, Tyutin) – Demitra (Hossa, Suchy), Visnovsky (Demitra), Bondra (Meszaros, Chara), Gaborik, Gaborik
Shots: Russia 23 – Slovakia 36
Saves: Bryzgalov 31 – Budaj 20
PIM: Russia 16 – Slovakia 10

Game 2: Russia 5 – Sweden 0
Goals: Kovalev (A. Markov), Ovechkin (Yashin), Sushinsky (Malkin, Zhukov), Kozlov (Frolov, Korolyuk), Afinogenov (Datsyuk)
Shots: Russia 32 – Sweden 24
Saves: Nabokov 24 – Lundqvist 27
PIM: Russia 16 – Sweden 20

Game 3: Russia 1 – Kazakhstan 0
Goals: Kharitonov (Sushinsky, Malkin)
Shots: Russia 50 – Kazakhstan 24
Saves: Nabokov 24 – Eremeev 49
PIM: Russia 12 – Kazakhstan 26

Game 4: Russia 9 – Latvia 2
Goals: Kovalchuk (Kovalev, D. Markov), Sushinsky (Kharitonov, Gonchar), Kovalchuk (Datsyuk), Kovalchuk (Kovalev, Datsyuk), Kozlov (Yashin), Kovalchuk (Datsyuk), Yashin (Kozlov, Zhukov), Malkin (Sushinsky, Vishnevski), Ovechkin (Kozlov, Yashin) – Cipruss, Redlihs (Berzins)
Shots: Russia 39 – Latvia 11
Saves: Nabokov 6, Sokolov 3 – Masalskis 18, Irbe 12
PIM: Russia 16 – Latvia 18

Game 5: Russia 5 – United States 4
Goals: Korolyuk, Malkin (Kasparaitis), A. Markov (Datsyuk, Sushinsky), Ovechkin (Malkin, Kasparaitis), Kovalev (Datsyuk, Malkin) – Rolston (Conroy), Gionta (Gomez, Weight), Gomez (Schneider, Rolston), Cole (Knuble, Drury)
Shots: Russia 21 – United States 34
Saves: Nabokov 7, Sokolov 23 – Esche 16
PIM: Russia 14 – United States 8

Quarterfinal: Russia 2 – Canada 0
Goals: Ovechkin (Kozlov), Kovalev (A. Markov)
Shots: Russia 33 – Canada 27
Saves: Nabokov 27 – Brodeur 31
PIM: Russia 41 – Canada 18

Semifinal: Russia 0 – Finland 4
Goals: Peltonen (Timonen), Lydman (S. Koivu), S. Koivu (Timonen, Selanne), O. Jokinen (Peltonen, Kapanen)
Shots: Russia 21 – Finland 30
Saves: Nabokov 26 – Niittymaki 21
PIM: Russia 16 – Finland 8

Bronze medal final: Russia 0 – Czech Republic 3
Goals: Erat (Vyborny, Lang), Zidlicky (Jagr, Lang), Straka (Erat)
Shots: Russia 28 – Czech Republic 15
Saves: Nabokov 12 – Vokoun 28
PIM: Russia 41 – Czech Republic 14

Roster:

Player	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
D #4 Sergei Zhukov	8	0	2	2	6
D #5 Vitali Vishnevsky	8	0	1	1	4
D #6 Anton Volchenkov	8	0	0	0	2
D #11 Darius Kasparaitis	8	0	2	2	8
D #29 Daniil Markov	8	0	2	2	4
D #51 Fedor Tyutin	8	0	1	1	4
D #52 Andrei Markov	8	1	2	3	6
D #55 Sergei Gonchar	8	0	2	2	8
F #8 Alexander Ovechkin	8	5	0	5	8
F #13 Pavel Datsyuk	8	1	7	8	10
F #18 Evgeni Malkin	7	2	4	6	31
F #21 Alexander Kharitonov	8	1	1	2	6
F #22 Andrei Taratukhin	5	0	0	0	2
F #23 Ivan Nepryaev	2	0	0	0	2
F #24 Alexander Frolov	3	0	1	1	0
F #25 Viktor Kozlov	8	2	3	5	2
F #27 Alexei Kovalev	8	4	2	6	4
F #33 Maxim Sushinsky	8	2	3	5	8
F #61 Maxim Afinogenov	8	1	0	1	10
F #71 Ilya Kovalchuk	8	4	1	5	31
F #79 Alexei Yashin	8	1	3	4	4
F #94 Alexander Korolyuk	6	1	1	2	6
Goaltender	GP	W	L	T	GAA	SO
G #20 Evgeni Nabokov	7	5	2	0	1.34	3
G #30 Ilya Bryzgalov	1	0	1	0	5.00	0
G #39 Maxim Sokolov	2	2	0	0	4.00	0