Last year’s silver medallists were stunned by the Finnish team in the opening period of the tie as Sebastian Aho, Patrik Laine and Aleksi Saarela found the net to take a 3-1 lead, with Kirill Kaprizov scoring for the Russians.

The prospect of witnessing back-to-back wins appeared on the cards for Finland, having thrashed Belarus 6-0 in their opening match, but their lead quickly evaporated after their opponents were able to raise their game in the second period.

Strikes from Andrei Svetlakov and Pavel Kraskovski saw the Russian team level the score and they appeared on course for victory after Vladislav Kamenev and Alexander Polunin completed the turnaround by helping move them into a 5-3 lead.

A thrilling finish appeared in store when Saarela scored for the second time to reduce the host’s deficit, but Radel Fazleyev ended the scoring seven minutes from time to give the Russians a 6-4 win.

"It was a good feeling, we understood that it was only the second period,” Fazleyev said when discussing his side's comeback.

“We had 40 minutes ahead of us, we had to play our game, which is what we did.”

The victory keeps them top of the Group B standings and on course for the quarter-finals, with the Czech Republic occupying second position after they bounced back from their opening day loss to Russia.

David Pastrnak marked his first appearance at the tournament, having fully recovered from a fractured foot, to score their opening goal against Slovakia, with Dominik Lakatos adding the second to give his team a 2-0 victory.

Having inflicted a heavy defeat to Switzerland in their opening match, Sweden confirmed themselves as contenders for the overall title after Alexander Nylander’s effort proved enough to win a tightly fought match with the United States to top Group A.

An outstanding performance from goalkeeper Linus Soderstrom ensured the lead had remained intact and ensuring Sweden’s first win over the United States since 1996 at the tournament, ending a run of 12 successive defeats.

Meanwhile, defending champions Canada recovered from their loss to the United States on the opening day of action by thrashing Denmark 6-1 to move to joint second in the group with the Danes and their North American rivals.

Canada will have the opportunity to move clear of their rivals tomorrow when they face Switzerland in Group A, while Russia meet Belarus in the only Group B tie of the day.