"Thanks to a Slovak, a couple of Russians are headed to Germany.

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Sergei Gonchar will play for Russia at the IIHF World Hockey Championships, currently taking place in Germany. They will try to help Russia make up for an embarrassing, nonmedal effort at the Vancouver Olympics.

Malkin and Gonchar will depart for Germany in the next few days, the players said Friday at Mellon Arena.

"It's my national team," Malkin said. "They called me. I need to help my team, and I can go. I'm not saying no."

Gonchar, who has never participated in the event, said he decided to play because he is 36 and running out of chances.

Russia lost a quarterfinal game to Canada at the Olympics, a defeat that guaranteed the tournament co-favorite would not medal. The Russians were forced to play the other co-favorite, Canada, because a loss to Slovakia in the preliminary round cost them a top seed.

Slovakia's goalie at the Olympics was Jaroslav Halak, who starred in Montreal's second-round upset of the Penguins in the Stanley Cup playoffs."