The Russian men’s ice hockey team suffered a 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic in their last warm-up match before next month’s world championships, with coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov blaming the result on a lack of concentration.
The result meant that Russia slipped to third place in the Euro Hockey Tour standings after a 4-1 win for Finland over Sweden in Sunday’s other game allowed the Finns to take second by virtue of scoring more goals.
Russia took the lead four minutes into the second period through Evgeny Ketov who skated around the goal before scoring past goaltender Jakub Kovar.
The second period was briefly interrupted by a problem with the ice, and the Czechs struck after the game was resumed, with two goals in two minutes from Jakub Petruzalek and 982-game NHL veteran Petr Nedved.
Bilyaletdinov said Russia had lost focus while the game was suspended and then made errors in defense.
“The only thing it could be is that they lost concentration and made those mistakes because of it,” he said.
“That break played into the hands of our opponents. They relaxed somehow and changed something. I don’t know what they did but it wasn’t in our favor.”
Bilyaletdinov had yet to decide on a final squad for the world championships, he added.
The Russian team’s morale had not been damaged by the defeat, forward Nikolai Kulemin said.
“I wouldn’t say that this defeat is too disheartening for our team. We’re working to prepare for the world championships and the main task is to play successfully there.”
The world championships will take place from May 4 through 20 in Sweden and Finland, with Russia seeking its first title since 2009.
Drawn against Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Latvia, Denmark and Italy, the Russian national team will play all its group stage matches in Stockholm.
