Ice hockey - Russians up and running with big win over Slovenia

Ice Hockey – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men Preliminary Round Match – Olympic Athletes from Russia v Slovenia - Gangneung Hockey Centre, Gangneung, South Korea – February 16, 2018 - Ilya Kovalchuk, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, celebrates with teammates after scoring. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (Reuters) - After a stunning opening loss to Slovakia, Kiril Kaprizov scored a hat-trick as the Olympic Athletes from Russia stormed back on Friday to crush Slovenia 8-2 and set up a key group game against the United States in the men's Olympic ice hockey tournament.

The Russians, the strongest team on paper and led by former NHL all stars Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk, looked set to take the Games by storm when they netted two early goals against the Slovaks.

Ice Hockey – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men Preliminary Round Match – Olympic Athletes from Russia v Slovenia - Gangneung Hockey Centre, Gangneung, South Korea – February 16, 2018 - Ivan Telegin, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, and Mitja Robar of Slovenia compete in front of Luka Gracnar of Slovenia. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

But the Big Red Machine's motor ran silent for the next 74 minutes as they lost 3-2 to Slovakia and they started slowly against the Slovenians.

"We were a little nervous. We have a lot of guys their time in the Olympics, and we were trying to do too much," said Kovalchuk, who is playing in his fifth Olympics.

The Russians got back on track late in the first period with two goals within 22 seconds, the first from Sergei Mozyakin on a powerplay and the second from Kovalchuk who buried a shot from the point unassisted.

Ice Hockey – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men Preliminary Round Match – Olympic Athletes from Russia v Slovenia - Gangneung Hockey Centre, Gangneung, South Korea – February 16, 2018 - Vasili Koshechkin, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, in action. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

The floodgates opened in the second period as the Russians scored four times through Alexander Barabanov, Ilya Kablukov, Kaprizov and Kovalchuk, who also had an assist on the Kablukov goal.

Kovalchuk carried the puck into the Slovenia zone, threaded through two defenders and looped behind their goal before feeding Kablukov in front to knock it home.

Kaprizov completed his hat-trick with two third-period goals.

Ice Hockey – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men Preliminary Round Match – Olympic Athletes from Russia v Slovenia - Gangneung Hockey Centre, Gangneung, South Korea – February 16, 2018 - Ilya Kablukov, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, and Bostjan Golicic of Slovenia compete. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

"First game we played a good first five minutes, today we played good all 60," Kovalchuk said. "That was the difference."

Captain Jan Mursak scored the first goal for the Slovenians, who came from two goals down in the third period to beat the United States in overtime on Wednesday. Ziga Pance scored their second with under a minute left.

The Russian's lopsided win set up a pivotal game on Saturday against the Americans in Group B, where all four teams have a win and a loss each.

Ice Hockey – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men Preliminary Round Match – Olympic Athletes from Russia v Slovenia - Gangneung Hockey Centre, Gangneung, South Korea – February 16, 2018 - Kirill Kaprizov, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, celebrates his goal with teammates. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor

The U.S. sit top of the standings with four points because their defeat by Slovenia came in overtime, and the Russians are third.

If the Americans win, they will top the group with seven points and if they lose they could drop to third.

With a win, the Russians would finish first or second, depending on the outcome of the Slovenia v Slovakia game set for the same time. If they lose, they could drop to fourth.

Ice Hockey – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men Preliminary Round Match – Olympic Athletes from Russia v Slovenia - Gangneung Hockey Centre, Gangneung, South Korea – February 16, 2018 - Luka Gracnar of Slovenia reacts after Ilya Kablukov, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, scores a goal. REUTERS/Julio Cortez/Pool

(Reporting by Dan Burns, editing by Ed Osmond)

Ice Hockey – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men Preliminary Round Match – Olympic Athletes from Russia v Slovenia - Gangneung Hockey Centre, Gangneung, South Korea – February 16, 2018 - Robert Sabolic of Slovenia and Mikhail Grigorenko, an Olympic Athlete from Russia, compete. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Ice Hockey – Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics – Men Preliminary Round Match – Olympic Athletes from Russia v Slovenia - Gangneung Hockey Centre, Gangneung, South Korea – February 16, 2018 - Players shake hands after the game. REUTERS/Grigory Dukor