Russian national hockey team has secured leadership in its group at the 2010 world ice-hockey championship by beating Kazakhstan 4-1 as Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal at the current tournament.

The Russian team showed a solid performance and allowed a goal only two minutes before the end of the game on Tuesday.

Other scorers on the team were Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexander Semin and Denis Grebeshkov.

The defending champions are leading Group A with six points. They defeated Slovakia 3-1 on Sunday.

Russia have won the last two tournaments, but were disappointing at the recent Winter Olympics, were they were thrashed by hosts Canada in the last eight.
sections: Sport