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Anze Kopitar scored 5:29 into the first period to help Slovenia beat Austria 4-0 on Tuesday in the qualification round of the Sochi Olympics, extending the experience of playing for his father in international competition. Danuel House Jersey . The Olympic hockey rookies will face top-seeded and 2006 Olympic champion Sweden on Wednesday in the quarterfinals. Kopitar, who plays for the Los Angeles Kings, is the only NHL player on the Slovenia squad. His father, Matjaz, is the national teams coach. Robert Kristan had a 30-save shutout for the Slovenes, and he got plenty of support offensively. Jan Urbas scored a short-handed goal midway through the first period, and Sabahudin Kovacevics slap shot put Slovenia up 3-0 early in the second. Austria called timeout late in the game to add an extra skater and Slovenias Jan Mursak took advantage with an empty-net goal. The Austrians lost their first two games by a combined score of 14-4 to Finland and Canada before beating Norway 3-1 in their final game of the preliminary round. Their goaltender, Mathias Lange, made 31 saves. Kopitar beat him with a shot from the slot early in the game, and that proved to be the only goal the feel-good team needed to keep playing in the tournament it wasnt expected to be in a little more than a year ago. Slovenia earned a surprising spot in the Sochi Games by knocking off Belarus, Ukraine and Denmark in last years qualification tournament. It was an impressive accomplishment for a hockey team ranked 17th in the world from a nation with fewer than 2 million people, only seven hockey rinks and only one professional team. Instead of being just satisfied to be here, Slovenia beat usually steady Slovakia 3-1 in the preliminary round. Austria, meanwhile, is eliminated with one victory and three lopsided losses. Slovenia got two key players back in the playoff round. Kopitar didnt finish the previous game against the U.S. because of flu-like symptoms. Kovacevic was suspended for the previous game for hitting Slovakia forward Tomas Kopecky in the head with his left elbow in a game last week. Ben McLemore Jersey . Vonn had another scary moment at Saturdays World Cup downhill in Val dIsere, ending up clutching her knee in pain after losing her balance and missing a gate. But she gave a reassuring answer shortly afterward, saying no new damage had been done to the surgically repaired knee, and that her plans for the Sochi Olympics were still intact. Custom Houston Rockets Jerseys . Not to be outdone, Atletico Madrid bettered its title rivals by demolishing 10-man Getafe 7-0 with Diego Costa returning from injury to score with a brilliant bicycle kick. "It was an almost perfect night," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. https://www.rocketsrookiesshop.com/Clyde...on-Jersey/ .C. -- Duke sophomore Rodney Hood is entering the NBA draft.MOSCOW -- Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje are second after the short dance at the Rostelecom Cup figure skating Grand Prix, while Canadian teammates Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch are third in pairs. Weaver and Poje, from Waterloo, Ont., scored 61.50 points for their performance to "42nd Street," but said theyd left some marks on the table. "After we completed our program we were happy," Weaver said. "It was clean and it felt comfortable. When the score came up though we were a bit confused. But it means we have to go back and make the program even more bullet-proof." Poje said the couple will take a close took at all the programs technical elements. "We missed some technical points and we need to refine those," he said. "But we improved overall and really captured the essence of the program." Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia lead after the short dance with 68.42, while Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilian Tkachenko of Russia are third. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Toronto are sixth. Moore-Towers, from St. Catharines, Ont., and Moscovitch, from Toronto, scored 65.65, and completed a triple twist and throw triple loop, but Moscovitch fell on a triple toe. Moscovitch took his fall in stride, saying, "I was working on some yoga positions on the landing." "I dont think we missed a jump all week in training," he added. "But we picked ourselves up and a had strong finish to the program. Weve got some ground to make up in the long and thats going to be our next challenge." Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy lead with 73.25, while Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov of Russia are second. Maxim Kovtuns two confident quads, meanwhile, gave him a big lead after the mens short program. As the only competitor to try two quads, much less complete them, Kovtun ended the day nearly nine points ahead of Japans Tatsuki Machida, who opened with a clean quad but then stepped out of the triple toe loop that was the second jump in his combination. Javier Fernandez of Spain was in third despite falling on his quad. In the womens short program, Russian Julia Lipnitskaia was in the lead, followed by Carolina Kostner of Italy, thhe 2012 world champion. Austin Rivers Jersey. American teammates Agnes Zawadzki and Mirai Nagasu were one-hundredth of a point apart at third and fourth, though well behind the two leaders. Kovtun is gunning for the sole Russian mens slot in Sochi, which Turin Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko also wants. Plushenko was to have been part of the Rostelecom field, but withdrew from what would have been his first top-tier competition since back surgery this spring. Plushenko blamed his withdrawal on a knee injury. "I was interested in trying my strength against such a fantastic skater," Kovtun said. "But I hope I will have another chance at Russian nationals." Kovtun was strong throughout his flamenco-themed program, the only notable flaw being he was almost sitting on the landing of his second quad to keep his balance. Machida, who won gold at Skate America, lamented that he was not in good condition in Moscow, but said its not clear whats troubling him. "Actually, I dont know," he said when asked about the specifics. Fernandez, the European champion and world bronze medallist , expressed satisfaction despite his fall. "I think I just had a little problem in the pattern and I just need to keep my mind clear," he said. All four of the top women did triple-triple combinations. But Lipnitskaia landed a more difficult triple Lutz-triple toe combo while Kostner, Zawadzki and Nagasu all did triple toe-triple toes. Lipnitskaia, who won gold at Skate Canada, will qualify for the Grand Prix final with a medal of any shade in Moscow. Kostner would qualify with a gold, but Zawadzki, after a seventh-place finish in the Cup of China, is out of contention. The top six skaters in each discipline qualify for the final, which is Dec. 5-8 in Fukuoka, Japan. Lipnitskaias program began on a mysterious note, with her crouched down and drawing figures with her finger on the ice. Asked what thats all about, she chose to keep the meaning hidden. "Everyone can see what he wants to," she said. But once she rose from the crouch, the 2012 junior world champions program was crystal-clear: a clean triple-triple, a precisely landed double Axel and a very fast combination spin at the end. ' ' '
