Russia battle past Czechs, Canada stays unbeaten

By Steve Keating

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) - Alexei Morozov fired the overtime winner to lift Russia to a 5-4 victory over the Czech Republic at the world championships on Sunday, adding another line to one of ice hockey's most intense rivalries.

After Atlanta Thrashers' prolific Ilya Kovalchuk missed a penalty shot 30 seconds into the extra session, Morozov settled the ill-tempered contest when he took a drop pass from Sergei Zinoviev and snapped a wrist-shot past netminder Milan Hnilicka.

The win improved Russia's record to 2-0 and put them top the Group D standings.

"They (Russia) are very greedy," said New Jersey Devils' Patrik Elias who scored a hat-trick for the Czechs. "You can never under-estimate their power.

"They played as a team. They played very tough hockey today."

While the Russians and Czechs engaged in a bruising battle, Latvia meekly surrendered 7-0 to defending champions Canada, who also improved to 2-0 and posted their 11th straight win to lead Group B.

FOURTH GOAL

Ottawa Senators' Dany Heatley, who had a hat-trick in Canada's opening win, notched his fourth goal and added three assists to replace NHL great and Team Canada general manager Steve Yzerman as the country's all-time leading scorer at the world championships with 40 points.