Vladimir Tarasenko a threat for Team Russia

TORONTO-- All eyes, including those of opponents, go to Team Russia captain Alex Ovechkin when he steps onto any rink.
One of Team Russia's strengths for the World Cup of Hockey 2016, however, will be a roster that has more than one game-changer.

Behind Ovechkin, center Pavel Datsyuk and right wing Nikita Kucherov on the top line come center Evgeni Malkin between left wing Nikolay Kulemin and right wing Vladimir Tarasenko.
A second-team NHL All-Star in each of his past two seasons with the St. Louis Blues, Tarasenko has the gift of quick, accurate hands that create offense from the most innocent of situations and shoot pucks into the smallest openings.
The 24-year-old scored 40 goals and 74 points last season, each an NHL career high, and the combination with Malkin cannot be ignored in this tournament, which Team Russia begins against Team Sweden at Air Canada Centre on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVA Sports).

"I've played with [Malkin] a couple of times," Tarasenko said after practice at Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday. "He's a great player, one of the best in the world. We have a lot of guys in here that are really good players, probably all of them, and it's a good time to be here together."
Team Russia's coaching staff, led by Oleg Znarok, has liked what it has seen with that combination so far.
"It really seems there is chemistry with these guys," assistant coach Harijs Vitolins said Saturday. "They fit with each other."
Team Russia finished its pretournament games 1-0-2.
"Ready? We'll see tomorrow," Tarasenko said. "Hopefully yes. We have a lot of stuff to get together and I hope we will have a lot of success in this tournament.
"We have a really good group of guys here, so we come here together and we're really enjoying this time. We'll just play for a win in every game and win the Cup."

Tarasenko said he has not given any thought to Team Russia's assignment in Group B, considered by most the more difficult group with Team Sweden, Team Finland and Team North America. Group A includes Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Europe and Team USA.
"No, I don't think about it," Tarasenko said. "Our deal is to go on the ice and play against every team in this tournament and it doesn't matter who we play. Everybody has really good teams and we're just playing for wins."
Team Russia concentrated on movement and special teams in its final full practice.
"We should definitely work on our defense," Vitolins said. "That is the main point … to concentrate on defense mainly. In attacking, we do think have some creative masters out there."
Vitolins said the preliminary-round format is difficult.
"Obviously there is a pressure because it is a tournament where you don't have many chances," he said. "It's only three games and you have to perform and show the best game you can. It's not like some championships when you have seven games (series) and you still have a chance to win and come back.
"There is a little more nervousness about that, but we're really concentrated on winning."