Star-studded Russia have maintained a perfect record at the home Euro Hockey Tour stage - the Channel One Cup - beating Finland 3-1.

Vadim Shipachev, who substituted for injured Aleksandr Radulov in the first line, gave Russia the lead in the second period, finishing up a quick counter-attacking effort by his teammates Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk. 

Evgeny Malkin doubled the hosts’ lead two minutes later in a  powerplay fed by Alex Ovechkin’s clever assist.

The Finns cut the deficit late in the second with a goal from CSKA Moscow defenseman Mikko Maenpaa, but Kovalchuk buried any lingering hopes of a comeback with a goal at the start of the third period.

Throughout the duration of the tournament, Russia was head and shoulders above the competition. Zinetula Bilyaletdinov’s charges started with a 5-1 thrashing of Sweden, followed by a 6-0 demolition of the Czech Republic that featured a hat-trick from Pavel Datsyuk.

They has consequently swept the home event and now occupy the top spot in the Euro Hockey tour after two stages.

Later Sunday, Sweden faces the Czechs in the last match of the tournament.

Russian national team player Ilya Kovalchuk, center, plays at the Euro Hockey Tour's second stage Channel One Cup tournament match between Russia and Finland.(RIA Novosti / Grigoriy Sokolov)

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