STOCKHOLM – Alexander Perezhogin scored the winner in the first minute, and top-seeded Russia kept riding high with a solid 2-0 win over the Czech Republic on Sunday. The Czechs remain third in the Stockholm group with 11 points.

"We played a very good game today," said Russia's Pavel Datsyuk. "The first goal really helped get things started for us the right way."

Yevgeni Malkin also scored his tournament-leading seventh goal for Russia, which has racked up six straight regulation victories.

This was just the latest installment in a long-standing, sometimes bitter international hockey rivalry. From the 1960’s to the 1980’s, the Soviet Union generally got the better of Czechoslovakia, although the latter won titles in 1972, 1976, 1977, and 1985.

More recently, the Czechs beat Russia for gold in 2010 and bronze last year. It’s always a battle even though the political overtones are gone.

"You always get motivated for a game against Russia,' said Czech star Ales Hemsky. "They are always skilled, great players you go up against, and it's always a great game to play."

Russian goalie Konstantin Barulin got his first shutout and second win of the tournament. Mikhail Biryukov served as Barulin’s backup, while number one netminder Semyon Varlamov sat this one out as a healthy scratch.

Jakub Kovar suited up between the pipes for the Czechs, who enjoyed a 30-23 edge in shots on goal.

The Russians wasted no time, opening the scoring 24 seconds in. Perezhogin took Russian captain Ilya Nikulin’s pass behind the goal line, stepped out, and tucked a wraparound past Kovar’s blocker on the ice.

"Too bad they scored on that first shift of the game," said Hemsky ruefully.

Petr Tenkrat nearly tied it up midway through the period when he entered the Russian zone on the right zone and hammered a slapshot off the crossbar. The Czechs achieved some good puck possession during a slashing penalty to Sergei Shirokov, but couldn’t break through. Barulin was sharp as the Czechs outshot Russia 14-7 through 20 minutes.

The teams continued tangling tightly deep into the second period, with good skating but few golden opportunities, as competing chants resounded from the flag-waving Czech and Russian fans. There was plenty of tough sparring along the boards.

Late in the period, Alexei Tereshenko went down in apparent pain after taking a stick off a faceoff from Czech centre Petr Nedved, but the officials did not assess a penalty on the play.

Tereshenko would draw a minor, however, with 1:20 remaining in the middle frame, as Martin Erat hooked him in the neutral zone. The Russians didn’t score before the horn, but carried a two-man advantage into the third after Czech defenceman Lukas Krajicek was called for interference.

Just after the first Czech penalty expired in the third period, relentless Russian pressure paid off as Malkin one-timed home an Alexander Popov feed from the hash marks at 0:44.

"It was important to get that second goal," Datsyuk said. "It took some of the pressure off with Malkin's goal. It was good that we score."

Things got chippy halfway through the third as the Czechs aggressively hounded Malkin away from Kovar's goal crease, and the Russian superstar wound up with a slashing penalty out of the melee. The Russian fans chanted his name in joyous disregard.

It wasn't the only time the in-house DJ would spin the Beastie Boys' "(You Gotta Fight) For Your Right (to Party!)", even though fighting is not permitted in international hockey.

The Czechs called a timeout to try to conjure up some offense with six minutes left. But instead, the Russians nearly grabbed a three-goal lead when Czech defenceman Jakub Krejcik coughed up the puck and Nikolai Zherdev raced off on a breakaway, barely failing to score five-hole.

Only with 10 seconds left did the Czechs manage to pull Kovar for the extra attacker, and there would be no miracle two-goal comeback.

"We were shooting the puck more today than before, but we have to go harder to the net and create more traffic in front," said Hemsky.

Russia wraps up its round-robin against Italy on Monday, while the Czechs finish up against Germany on Tuesday.

LUCAS AYKROYD