Alexander Romanov had a goal and two assists as Russia beat Denmark 4-0 Thursday at the world junior hockey championship in Vancouver.
Despite the loss, it was a much improved effort from a Danish team that was trounced 14-0 by Canada on Wednesday in its tournament opener.
Vitali Kravtsov had a goal and an assist and Pavel Shen and Ivan Morozov also scored for Russia, which played its first game at the tournament.
Danil Tarasov picked up the shutout for Russia. William Rorth took the loss in goal for Denmark.
Kravtsov opened the scoring 6:28 into the game, and Romanov made it 2-0 late in the second period.
The Danes kept the game close until Shen scored on a power play with just over six minutes to go, and then Morozov capped the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final two minutes.
Russia next plays the Czech Republic on Friday, while Denmark faces Switzerland on Saturday.
Later Thursday, Slovakia faces Sweden, Canada takes on Switzerland and Finland plays Kazakhstan.
