Jan Laco did everything he could

[linhe]

Jan Laco did everything he could. Cheap Jerseys UK . The unheralded Slovakian goaltender turned aside everything he saw. A Kontintenal Hockey League backup, he looked fearless in the face of the Russians high-powered offence. But his teammates couldnt solve Russian counterpart Semyon Varlamov. Alexander Radulov and Ilya Kovalchuk scored the only shootout goals after a scoreless deadlock, Varlamov provided 27 saves and Team Russia edged Slovakia 1-0 in Group A action on Sunday in the 2014 Sochi Olympics at Bolshoy Ice Dome. "Thats every game here. Its very intense," Kovalchuk said. "Even if you play against Slovenia or the USA, or today against Slovakia, it doesnt matter. We couldnt find a way how to score, but we found a way to win." With one win, one overtime win and one overtime loss in the preliminary round, Russia will have to play a qualifying elimination game against Norway to reach the quarter-finals. Slovakia (0-3) finished last in its group with one point. Laco, getting the call in place of star St. Louis Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak, was brilliant in stopping 36 Russian shots – the only blemishes being in the shootout. Alex Ovechkin thought he had an open net to end the game in overtime, but the Capitals forward was blocked on a spectacular sprawling stop by Slovakian defender Andrej Meszaros, who came to the aid of the 32-year-old Slovakian goalie. "It mattered to us," Meszaros said. "We wanted to prove to ourselves we could play better hockey than we showed in the first two games. I think we showed everybody that we can play with anybody." The home side re-established its momentum in the third period by outshooting the Slovaks 15-2 and drawing four straight penalties, failing to convert on any of them. The Russians, fresh off a thrilling 3-2 shootout loss to the Americans, appeared to have finally solved Laco in the third on a power play, off a deflected point shot by Yevgeni Medvedev. The puck beat the Slovakian netminder, but caromed off the crossbar and post to stay out of the net. The early half of the second period featured a defensive battle, with both sides smothering one another and not allowing many chances. Russia couldnt convert on either of its power-play opportunities of the frame, but the pace picked up significantly in the latter half of the period. Laco looked calm as can be in fending off the Russian attack. His glove side was seemingly unbeatable at times and he was able to spot the puck through traffic to make some difficult stops. One of his best came early in the second period on Pittsburgh Penguins sniper Evgeni Malkin, who had a great chance taken away by Lacos acrobatics. Not many goalies can say this, but Laco seemed to have Malkins number in this tilt. Known for having one of the quickest snap shots in the NHL, Malkin recovered a loose puck late in the period, turned and fired. Laco was quicker. He calmly turned aside the chance to keep things scoreless. But Varlamov was not to be outdone. He was lightning fast and sharp in denying chance after chance by the Slovaks. The Russians had a scare involving one of their top snipers Ilya Kovalchuk. At 9:17 of the second period, the former New Jersey Devil got tangled up with Richard Panik, went down awkwardly and appeared to be favouring his leg or ankle. He left the game but would later return. Slovakia lost the bronze-medal match to Finland in 2010 while the Russians finished a disappointing sixth. Russia is trying to duplicate what Canada was able to do four years ago in winning Olympic gold on home soil. Cheap Jerseys . Coetzee eagled the par-5 10th hole and birdied his closing three holes in a round that was just two shots more than his best on the European Tour, a 62 which equalled the Old Course record at St. Cheap NFL Jerseys UK Rashard Mendenhall has had a pretty solid career. He rushed for over 1,000 yards on two occasions and appeared in two Super Bowls. However, at age 26, he decided to walk away from the game to explore some of his other interests, including writing. Mendenhall blogged about his retirement on Huffington Post. He writes: "I look forward to chasing my desires and passions without restriction, and to sharing them with anyone who wants to come along with me! And Ill start with writing!" Mendenhall also touches on some of his other interests in the blog: "Over my career, because of my interests in dance, art and literature, my very calm demeanor, and mmy apparent lack of interest in sporting events on my Twitter page, people in the sporting world have sometimes questioned whether or not I love the game of football. Cheap NFL Jerseys. I do. I always have. " But most prevalently, like other NFL players who have opted for early retirement, he cites health concerns: "I no longer wish to put my body at risk for the sake of entertainment. I think about the rest of my life and I want to live it with much quality. And physically, I am grateful that I can walk away feeling as good as I did when I stepped into it." Mendenhalls entire blog post can be read here: http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/4931316 cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '