Slovakia outlasts Russians in Olympics

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Pavol Demitra's goal in the eighth round of the shootout Thursday gave Slovakia a 2-1 win over Russia in Group B of the Olympic hockey tournament.

The score by a player who competes for the hometown Vancouver Canucks ended a dramatic goaltending duel between Russia's Ilya Bryzgalov of the Phoenix Coyotes and Slovakia's Jaroslav Halak of the Montreal Canadiens.

Bryzgalov stopped 32 shots in regulation and overtime and Halak made 36 saves. They then both gave up a goal in the opening round of the shootout before shutting the door for the next six rounds.

Demitra finally tallied in the eighth and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins was unable to match him, bringing an end to the longest game of the Olympic tournament.

Slovakia made it to the quarterfinals of the Olympics four years ago before losing to the Czech Republic 2-1. Russia reached the semifinals, but was left without a medal when it could not score a goal in either the semis or the bronze medal contest.

Slovakia lost its opener this year to the Czech Republic, which plays Latvia on Friday and is in the best position to win the group. The Czechs and Russians will meet on Sunday.