MOSCOW, February 10 (R-Sport) - Russia dealt Sweden a 4-1 thrashing in the Swedish stage of the Euro Hockey Tour to stretch its overall lead.
Russians won its fifth consecutive Tour game and now heads the table by six points from Finland and the Czech Republic, with Sweden fourth.
“The game was pretty entertaining. It was emotional and the drive was even excessive,” Russia coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov said after Saturday's game. “The first period was difficult, but then we adapted. We need all the lines to perform equally. So there is still work to be done.”
Russia’s captain Ilya Nikulin opened the score on 15 minutes firing off the blue line, before Carl Soderberg equalized three minutes later.
In the second period, KHL top scorer Sergei Mozyakin managed a perfect wrist shot to return the lead to Russia before Evgeny Kuznetsov made it 3-1.
Dmitry Kazionov finished the thrashing in the third period, tipping in a shot by Evgeny Biryukov.
In the second game of the day, Finland dominated the Czech Republic in a 3-0 victory.
Finnish defenseman Ville Lajunen scored the first of the game 68 seconds after the starting face-off. Juuso Hietanen and Veli-Matti Savinainen netted two more in the second period.
The Swedish round of the Tour, branded as the Oddset Hockey Games, ends Sunday as Russia meets the Czechs and Sweden plays Finland in a Scandinavian derby.
