Russia controlled most of the play, but Slovakia's neutral zone trap worked almost perfectly. Russian forwards were frustrated when their offensive scheme was stumped and resorted to selfish play.
Superstar Aleksander Ovetshkin scored on the powerplay to start the scoring. Ovetshkin had many chances, especially in the second period, but didn't luck out.
Slovakia tied the game in the second period converting a Russian turnover near center ice. Winger Stefan Ruzicka finished the odd man rush with a crisp wrist shot.
The first shift of the third period saw Aleksei Tshkotov skate through the whole Slovakian team and score on a wrap-around. Slovakia didn't give up and tied the game again after Martin Sagat scored on a beautiful pass from linemate Vladislav Balaz.
The point gained from the tie was an excellent accomplishment for the Slovakians and that showed when they celebrated wildly after their second goal and at the final buzzer.
- This was a very important point for team confidence. We have a great team and excellent team spirit. Fourteen of our players play in North America so were not remembering the past years, team coach Fruhauf commented.
Slovakia's number one player was goaltender Jaroslav Halak playing an excellent game. Forwards Ruzicka and Balaz were in on most of their offensive action.
Russia's play was a huge disappointment. Teamplay seemed like a forgotten concept. All of the forwards deserve some of the blame with only Ovetshkin and linemate Dimitri Pestunov getting praise for their play.
- Our defenseman made a brutal mistake that allowed the Slovakians to tie the game. I'm not happy with my forwards, missing all those chances. They didn't play disclipined and the forwards didn't play for the team, Russian coach Ishmatov blasted his team.
One of those that showboated the most was Capitals winger Aleksander Semin. He showed his immense skill but didn't make one pass the whole game, prefering to try to weave through five opposing players. Semin refused to comment on the rift between and himself and coach Ishmatov.
