“Atmosphere in Russian hockey team is tense” – coach

The Russian national team has beaten Sweden 4-3 in the opening match of the third stage of the Euro Hockey Tour, despite the tense atmosphere in the team ahead of the Olympic squad announcement.

Despite shocking Olympic champions Sweden with the opener after just 39 seconds, the win did not come easily for the hosts.

It was 3-3 in the period and only a powerplay goal from Sergey Zinoviev with 11 minutes left to play gave Russia the win.

Bykov said Russia need to improve their game at the back ahead of Vancouver.

“Yes, there were individual errors, which I hope will not be repeated in future games. We’re not satisfied with the defense today. The quality of defenders is very important, but defensive play depends on all five men on the ice and we had problems with this,” he said.

Vyacheslav Bykov’s men face Finland, who lost their opening match to the Czech Republic 2-1 in overtime, in their second game of the tournament.

Russia lead the Euro Hockey Tour overall standings with 15 points after 7 games, with the second-placed Czechs 4 points behind.