Slovakia Pulls Off Upset of Russia

Marian Gaborik beat two defenders on a rush out of his own zone with 3 1/2 minutes left, and Slovakia pulled off the first upset of the Olympic hockey tournament by beating Russia, 5-3, Wednesday night.

Gaborik raced down the right wing boards, broke toward the net at the right circle and beat goalie Ilya Bryzgalov with a wrist shot that flew inside the far post. Then, to seal one of the biggest wins in his country’s history, Gaborik -- of the Minnesota Wild -- scored again in nearly identical fashion from the opposite circle with 29 seconds left.

The loss was the latest disappointment in international play for the talented Russians, who have had repeated breakdowns in big tournaments in recent years.

The loss doesn’t mean the Russians can’t get a medal but puts pressure on them to not lose again in their remaining four games in group play. The Russians, who got the bronze in 2002, must come back to play talented Sweden only 18 hours after losing to Slovakia.

Slovakia didn’t make it out of Olympic qualifying round play in 2002 because most of its top players were playing in the NHL and weren’t excused in time.

King forward Pavol Demitra scored nine minutes in to give Slovakia a 1-0 lead ahead of Pavel Datsyuk’s tying goal for Russia. The Slovaks twice came back from one-goal deficits in the second period on power-play goals by King defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky and Peter Bondra. Alex Kovalev and NHL rookie star Alexander Ovechkin had put Russia ahead with goals.

Czech Republic 4, Germany 1 -- Defenseman Tomas Kaberle scored twice in the second period and the Czech Republic, withstanding an injury to longtime star goalie Dominik Hasek, held off tenacious Germany for a victory.

The Czechs held onto a 2-1 lead for most of the final two periods, until Jaromir Jagr scored with 2:13 remaining.

Finland 5, Switzerland 0 -- Teemu Selanne and Olli Jokinen each had two goals and an assist, and Finland gave Switzerland few chances to score against Antero Niittymaki, who made 24 saves in an easy win.

Sweden 7, Kazakhstan 2 -- Daniel Tjarnqvist scored twice and lifted Sweden to an easy victory over Kazakhstan.

Tjarnqvist, a Minnesota Wild defenseman, matched his NHL goal output for the season -- just two in 41 games -- before the second period ended.