Advertisement
Olympics Blog

And in the nightcap ... Slovakia upsets Russia in a shootout

By Helene Elliott
Sports ColumnistFollow
Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

A great game between Russia and Slovakia ended just past 11:30 p.m. Pacific time with Slovakia upsetting tournament favorite Russia, 2-1, in a seven-round shootout at Canada Hockey Place.

Goaltender Jaroslav Halak of Slovakia, who plays for the Montreal Canadiens, had to face sniper Alexander Ovechkin THREE times in the shootout and stopped him twice. Halak also stopped Alexei Morozov, Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeni Malkin.

Advertisement

Ilya Bryzgalov of Russia was no slouch either. He gave up a goal to former King Jozef Stumpel on the first shot and then stopped Demitra, Marian Hossa, Stumpel again, Kings center Michal Handzus and Marian Gaborik before Demitra -- who plays for the hometown Vancouver Canucks -- ended the spirited game.

-- Helene Elliott, reporting from Vancouver

Olympics Blog
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

Advertisement