MEN'S HOCKEY ROUNDUP

updated 5:31 p.m. ET Feb. 15, 2006

TURIN, Italy - Numerous coaches in the Olympic tournament talked about how dangerous Slovakia could be. Russia quickly found out why.

Marian Gaborik beat two defenders on a rush out of his own zone with 3½ minutes remaining, and Slovakia pulled off the first upset of the Olympic hockey tournament by beating Russia 5-3 Wednesday night.

Gaborik raced down the right wing boards, broke toward the net at the right circle and beat goalie Ilya Bryzgalov with a wrist shot inside the far post. Then, to seal one of the biggest wins in his country’s short history, Gaborik — of the Minnesota Wild — scored again from the opposite circle with 29 seconds remaining.

“This is a very big game for us,” Gaborik said.

The loss was the latest disappointment in international play for the talented Russians, who have recently had repeated breakdowns in big tournaments. Russian coach Vladimir Krikunov took a gamble and lost by starting Bryzgalov of the Mighty Ducks in goal rather than the San Jose Sharks’ Evgeni Nabokov, who starts Thursday against Sweden.

Russia still can medal, but the loss increases the pressure on them to avoid losing in their remaining four games in group play. The Russians, who got the bronze in 2002, play Sweden after only an 18-hour break.

Slide show   Emotional Moments Feb. 26: See photos of athletes' highs and lows from Sunday.

“We must forget about this game,” Alexander Ovechkin said. “We play two games in two days all the time in the NHL, so that’s OK.”

Slovakia didn’t make it out of qualifying round play in 2002 because most of its top players were in the NHL and weren’t excused in time. But with a full cast and a different format that eliminated those play-in games, its quality forwards give the team a chance in every game.

Finland 5, Switzerland 0
Teemu Selanne and Olli Jokinen each had two goals and an assist, and Finland gave Switzerland few chances to score against Antero Niittymaki, who made 24 saves in a 5-0 rout Wednesday in men’s Olympic hockey.

Jokinen got things started with a power-play goal late in the first period, and then added another in the second when the Swiss scored four times to grab a 5-0 lead against Martin Gerber.

Gerber, who didn’t have a lot of defensive help in front of him, took the Carolina Hurricanes mask he was wearing to the bench and sat out the third period after making 19 saves. He was replaced by Colorado’s David Aebischer, who stopped all 13 shots he faced in the Group A opener for both teams.

Teppo Numminen, a Buffalo Sabres defenseman, started the second-period onslaught at 3:35 by ripping in a shot from just inside the right point.

Jokinen, the Florida Panthers captain, made it 3-0 when Ville Peltonen — who also assisted on the first goal — fed a pass in front for a quick one-timer past Gerber at 8:04. That gave Finland three power-play goals in four chances.

Selanne netted his first just 5:21 later off a perfect, no-look pass from Montreal captain Saku Koivu.

The 5-foot-10 center skated the puck down to the right corner with one and then two Swiss players draped over him. With his back turned to the goal, Koivu whipped a pass to Selanne, who was all alone in front.

Slide show   Pictures of the Day Check out Sunday's best Olympic images.

Selanne gave Finland a 5-0 lead when he backhanded in a rebound of a shot by Dallas’ Jere Lehtinen with 35 seconds left in the middle period.

The rest was up to Niittymaki, who has played 34 games this season with Philadelphia while splitting time with United States goalie Robert Esche.

He made six saves in the first and 12 in the second, but he only received token pressure. Switzerland did have a brief two-man advantage after falling behind 2-0, but the final 58 seconds were wiped out by Severin Blindenbacher’s hooking penalty.

He was in the box when Jokinen connected for the second time.

MORE FROM ICE HOCKEY

Ice hockey Section Front

How Swede it is Lidstrom's goal lifts Sweden to gold Guerin backs Modano in wake of criticism Crosby still won't rip Canada officials Celizic: America's top 10 Olympic busts Vote: Most memorable hockey moment? An inside look at Olympic hockey Olympic men's hockey rosters Ice hockey Section Front   Add Ice hockey headlines to your news reader: