Russian Athletes Hammer Slovenia 8-2 in 2018 Olympics Hockey

The Russian men's ice hockey team bounced back from a shock opening defeat to Slovakia by thrashing Slovenia 8-2 at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Friday.

The Gangneung Hockey Centre was treated to an ice hockey clinic by the Russians as they took the lead late in the first period and never let up.

Kirill Kaprizov, 20, had a hat-trick, and veteran Ilya Kovalchuk scored two in an inspired performance from the 34-year-old.

Sergei Mozyakin, Ilya Kablukov and Alexander Barabanov were the other Russian scorers against a Slovenia side who were helpless to stop their overwhelming opponents. 

Their only consolations were captain Jan Mursak's goal in the second period that came when Slovenia were already trailing 5-0 and Ziga Pance's late finish. 

Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press summed up the Russian outfit's total dominance following their eighth goal:

The first period was relatively tight and looked as though it may end goalless until Slovenia lost a man to the penalty box with barely two minutes remaining.

OAR took advantage of their power play to go ahead through a Mozyakin rocket before Kovalchuk doubled  their lead 22 seconds later, firing home via a deflection.

The Russians came out pumped up for the second period and produced 20 minutes of incredible quality to put the game out of sight.

A deft finish from Barabanov finished a fine move for the Russian athletes' third six minutes into the second period. 

Some pure class from Kovalchuk then set up Kablukov for the fourth as he breezed through the Slovenia defence before putting it on a plate.

A tight-angle, first-time finish from Kaprizov made it 5-0 as he netted the third Russian goal in just over four minutes, before Mursak pulled one back.

Perhaps the goal of the game came from Kovalchuk, who slapped a bullet shot high into the net for 6-1 after superb one-touch hockey in the build-up.

Kaprizov scored two more early in the third period to complete his treble before the Russian athletes finally let up the intensity. Pance's slap shot earned Slovenia their second goal of the game 32 seconds from time.