Russia take first trophy of season

Team Russia have claimed the first trophy of the season, finishing above three other contenders - Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic - in the first fixture of the European hockey tournament, the Karjala Cup.

Evgeny Kuznetsov won the match for Russia when he scored with 10 seconds remaining to secure a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic.

The victory gave Russia an unassailable eight points, which made it unreachable for other teams.

The Czechs opened the scoring with a powerplay goal from Petr Nedved midway through the second period. Aleksandr Radulov, who has previously scored four goals for Russia at the tournament, equalized at 14:33 of the third, also on a powerplay, to keep Russian hopes of securing a tournament victory alive.

But the night belonged to Kuznetsov, who sealed the victory when it seemed overtime was almost inevitable.

sections: Sport