Russia rolls over Latvia in Olympic hockey

The Russians, who reached the semifinals of the 2006 Olympic tournament without winning a medal, took 19 shots in the first period alone and scored the game's first four goals.

Ovechkin, the NHL goal-scoring leader gave Russia a 3-0 advantage by scoring with 35 seconds left in the opening period and then tallied the second in a string of four goals Russia produced in the span of 2:36 early in the second stanza.

Russia and Latvia are playing in Group B at the Olympics, as are Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

There are three groups of four teams each competing in the Olympic hockey tournament this year. The field will be whittled down to the quarterfinalists after round-robin play.

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