Evgeni Malkin leads Russia past Norway in World Championships opener
Evgeni Malkin had a better time than Matt Murray as the IIHL World Championships began Friday in Slovakia.
Malkin had a pair of assists as his Russian team cruised to a 5-2 victory over Norway. Murray stopped 24 of 26 shots as Canada dropped a 3-1 decision to Finland.
Malkin made a pair of nearly identical plays to help Russia jump out to a 4-0 lead, taking the puck behind the net on the power play and centering to Florida’s Evgeni Dadonov between the hash marks for a goal.
Here are both Dadonov's goals together back-to-back. #IIHFWorlds #FlaPanthers pic.twitter.com/c9XpFRPTZI
— Aivis Kalniņš?? (@A_Kalnins) May 10, 2019
A Finnish team with no NHL regulars on the roster beat Canada thanks to a breakaway goal from Kaapo Kakko and a rebound goal from Arrtu Ilomaki off a net-front scramble on the power play. Kakko, an 18-year-old who is expected to be selected second overall in June’s NHL draft, also scored an empty netter.
Four other Penguins players are also in the tournament – Canada’s Jared McCann, Sweden’s Patric Hornqvist and Marcus Pettersson and the Czech Republic’s Dominik Simon. Teddy Blueger was set to play for Latvia but has been sidelined by an undisclosed injury.
Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.
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