The Russian national ice hockey team lost to Germany at the World Ice Hockey Championships on Friday, for the first time in the event's history.

The 2-0 defeat was Russia's first loss in the preliminary group stages of the tournament since 2004, when they lost to Sweden.

"We are taking this as a mistake," the side's head coach Vyacheslav Bykov told journalists. "We've had a slap in the face, and now it's time to wake up."

Russia won the championships in 2008 and 2009, but lost in the final to the Czech Republic last year.

On Thursday, global bookmakers had the team down as the favorite to win this year's event.

The Russian team's next game is against Slovenia on May 1.

BRATISLAVA, April 29 (RIA Novosti)