2004 World Cup: Russians Skate Rings Around Team USA

Watching Canada open the 2004 World Cup with a pair of wins, a CBC announcer said the team looked "untouchable." He might be rethinking that label after seeing Russia's first game of the tournament.

On Thursday night, the Russians recalled the Soviet teams of old, skating like demons, playing tricks with the puck and pounding 45 shots at Robert Esche. Their reward was a 3-1 win over the United States.

Among the most impressive Russian players were Maxim Afinogenov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a scoring threat throughout the night, and the combo of Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk and Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk, who controlled the flow on just about every shift. And none of those guys even figured in the scoring.

The Russian goals came from Dainus Zubrus, Alexei Kovalev and Viktor Kozlov. (Kovalev's goal will go down as an international classic. Find a sports highlight show and watch it.) The Russians also received solid goaltending from Ilya Bryzgalov, a Mighty Ducks prospect who spent last season in the AHL. He stopped 20 shots.

It all sets up a great showdown with Canada on Saturday night.

Keith Tkachuk scored a power play goal for the USA, on a nice pass from Mike Modano. But Tkachuk also finished the night with one of his patented dumb penalties, an elbowing major with 1:01 left in the third period.

From an American perspective, the good news and bad news is that Esche has easily been their best player in the first two games. Good news, because you need great goaltending; bad news, because it's a sign of how widely the team has been outplayed. Without him, Team USA would have been blown out by both Canada and Russia. Problems abound on offense as well. One goal per game is not going to win the tournament.

Also on Thursday, Finland beat Germany, as expected. But the Germans played a strong second period and forced Miikka Kiprusoff to make several good saves before collecting his second straight shutout. Teemu Selanne, Kimmo Timonen and Jere Lehtinen scored to give Finland a 3-0 win.

Kiprusoff is in good form, suggesting he might be capable of stealing the tournament. But the Germans and Czechs have not provided the stiffest of challenges. Finland's game against archrivals Sweden on Saturday should tell us a great deal about both teams.

Friday's Games:
1:00 pm ET: Germany at Czech Republic
7:00 pm ET: Slovakia at USA

Complete World Cup Resources: The schedule, the format, the rosters, the prediction, and more.