I've noticed the same types of things as well. Not only in this tournament, but more generally, the new generation of Russian players don't dive, slash, hook etc...essentially don't do the things that Russians used to get criticized for in the past. Now they're combining their incredible skill with a type of fearlesness and toughness that we didn't really see before.
I'm not comparing with USSR players of the 70's, but the 90's players compared to this new wave of players is really different. I look at a player like Yashin, who just got bumped off the puck and physically intimidated a few times this game. Contrast that with AO, Datsyuk, Kovalchuck etc...who were just rushing into the Canadian zone with a ton of speed and not caring about taking a hit along the way.
This new school of Russian player is really fun to watch. You have an incredible amount of speed and skill coupled with more toughness and a very visible passion for the game. Again a lot of fun to watch and great to see those young guys get real excited on the ice.