Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche will start in goal for Russia in its first game of the 2014 Sochi Olympics against Slovenia on Thursday (7:30 a.m. ET, MSNBC, CBC), according to a tweet from the IIHF.

Sergei Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets will serve as his backup.

Forwards Viktor Tikhonov and Alexander Svitov will be scratched. Each plays in the Kontinental Hockey League but has NHL experience; Tikhonov played with the Phoenix Coyotes and Svitov for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets.