Russia winger Alexander Ovechkin has admitted that his side became "casual" after taking an early lead against Slovenia in their opening Group A game at the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The hosts went 2-0 up inside the opening four minutes against their opponents at the Bolshoy Ice Dome on Thursday and eventually had to settle for a 5-2 victory.

"We started really well, but after when we got the lead 2-0, we played more casual," NBC Sports quotes the 28-year-old as saying. "We can't play like that in the future."

Ovechkin's teammate Ilya Kovalchuk added: "In the second period we got too relaxed, but we gathered ourselves back in the third period.

"We started to pass more in the second period, that is why we were told to shoot more during the break."

In the other Group A match on Thursday, the USA defeated Slovakia 7-1.