With a game under their belts the Russians and the Czechs came into Sunday coming off of two very different results in their opening games. The Russians punished a sloppy American side en route to a 5-3 victory on Christmas, while the Czech Republic faltered against the Swedish machine in their opening game.
Jan Mysak was a bright spot for the Czechs, and he’ll need another strong showing against a deep Russian side that made mincemeat of the American defence. For Russia, they had to keep their eyes on the prize after their opening victory, as they’ve sometimes let games like these get away from them.