WRAPUP 1-Ice hockey-Sweden crush Slovakia, Malkin leads Russia

...

Evgeni Malkin scored two goals and added an assist as Russia shut out the Czech Republic 4-0 in the quarter-finals of the world ice hockey championship on Wednesday.

Tony Martensson went one better, notching a hat-trick as defending champions Sweden also moved swiftly into the final four with a convincing 7-4 win over Slovakia.

Jonathan Hedstrom added a pair for the world and Olympic champions as they hammered three unanswered goals in the second period to overcome a 2-1 deficit after the first 20 minutes.

The Swedes never looked back after that, and though 2002 champions Slovakia pulled within one early in the third, Martensson quickly restored a two-goal cushion with his second of the game at 47:03.

He completed his hat-trick with an empty-net goal with 15 seconds left on the clock to seal victory for the Swedes, who now take on the winner of Thursday's quarter-final between Canada and Switzerland.

Also on Thursday, the United States entertain Finland and the winner of that game meets Russia in Saturday's semis.

"Obviously, it was a great game for me. Until now I've never scored a hat-trick playing for the national team," said Martensson, who plays in the Swedish Elite League for HC Linkopings.

"But I was surprised the Slovaks didn't play a more attacking game as they have so many great offensive players on their team here. They were too passive and we took a full advantage of it."

The Russians, chasing their first world title since 1993, came out charging on a special day for the country, which was marking the anniversary of the World War Two victory over Nazi Germany, one of its most revered national holidays.

In a re-match of last year's world championship quarter-final in Riga when the Czechs won in overtime on their way to the final, this time it was the hosts who dominated for most of the game.

MALKIN SHOW

Russia goaltender Alexander Eremenko played a strong game, making several big saves from point-blank range, but it was Malkin who put on a great show for a capacity 14,000-strong crowd at the new Khodynka Arena at the start of the third period.

He first stole the puck from a Czech defenceman in the neutral zone, then raced full speed on Roman Cechmanek before circling the net and putting the puck into an open goal past the hapless Czech goalie.

"As I was skating on goal, I made up my mind about this move," the Pittsburgh Penguins centre told reporters.

"I'm just glad everything worked out the way I had planned."

With Russia on the offensive for much of the first two periods but still only holding a narrow 1-0 lead, Malkin delivered a huge blow to the Czechs' hopes, scoring a powerplay goal just 23 seconds into the third period when he jammed in a rebound after Ilya Kovalchuk's shot.

Russia coach Vyacheslav Bykov said that goal killed off the game.

"It was a close, tough match until we made it 2-0. Then, we just dominated for the rest of the game," he said.

"We also knew what this day means for our country and our people and I guess it wouldn't be right if we disappointed them today."

Czech coach Alois Hadamczik said: "We knew that Russia had the most powerful team here, but I thought that we played well in the first two periods. We just couldn't capitalise on the few chances we had."

The Russians have strengthened their squad for the semi-final, adding San Jose All-Star goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and forward Sergei Brylin, a three-time Stanley Cup winner with the New Jersey Devils, who became available after their respective NHL teams were eliminated from the playoffs.

Keywords: ICE HOCKEY WORLD/

[MOSCOW/Reuters/Finance.cz]