Russian ice hockey national team coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov is hoping to build on his unbeaten start with victory in the home leg of the Euro Hockey Tour, the Channel One Cup.

Russia confidently won the first stop of the Euro Hockey Tour with a new coach on the bench. At the Karjala Cup in Finland, the Red Machine preserved their unbeaten record in all three matches of the four-nation tournament and top the overall standings of the tour ahead of the home event, which gets underway on Thursday.

The so-far unbeaten head coach has decided to keep faith with most of the players who helped lift that Karjala trophy.

“There are slight changes in the team. However I'm satisfied with the way we played in Finland and I want to see these players on home ice. We want to add some fresh blood, and give a rest to some experienced players,” he told RT.

One of those players taking a break is, perhaps surprisingly, long-term captain, Aleksey Morozov. He is likely to be replaced by Aleksander Radulov, who was the top scorer in Helsinki.

Meanwhile, among the new faces on the roster is Nikolay Zherdev, who has returned, once again, from the NHL and now wears the jersey of Moscow Region side, Atlant. The 27-year-old forward hasn't been called up since the World Cup in 2009, where Russia took gold.

“I'm glad to be back. It's a great responsibility to play for the nation, and I'm still a little bit nervous about it,” the forward said.

“At the start of the season, it was hard for Zherdev to find his pace, but now he understands the way we want to play, he's good both in defense and attack. If he gets playing time, he'll prove he's worthy of the national team,” said Konstantin Barulin, Atlant and Russia goaltender.

There are five other players, who will be making their home debut on the Euro Hockey Tour. But with the feisty Radulov at the helm and the solid Konstantin Barulin between the pipes, Russia can be confident at both ends of the rink, and anything but victory will be considered a failure.

“We've got a great atmosphere in the dressing room. Everyone's preparing hard for the event. We will play as solidly in defence as we did in Finland, but we will try to score more goals,” says forward Aleksandr Perezhogin.

The Moscow stop on the Euro Hockey route has always been a significant event for Russian fans. The only problem is buying tickets for the matches as they are already sold out at the Megasport Arena.