Russian began its defence of its world ice-hockey championship title by beating Slovakia 3-1 in Germany's Cologne.
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, Maxim Afinogenov and Viktor Kozlov were on target for the Russians in Sunday's Group A game.
Russia have won the last two tournaments, but were disappointing at the recent Winter Olympics, were they were thrashed by hosts Canada in the last eight.
"The game was tough until the very end," trainer Vyacheslav Bykov was quoted by Gazeta.ru as saying. "But we started with a win - that's the most important thing,"
MOSCOW, May 10 (RIA Novosti)
