December 31, 2003

U.S. Earns Bye With 4-0-0 Record In Preliminary Round

HAMEENLINNA, Finland -- The United States National Junior Team defeated Russia, 4-1, here this evening in its final game of the Preliminary Round at the 2004 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. Team USA, which had not taken a game from Russia in this tournament since 1995, finished 4-0-0 in its four-team Group A and earned a bye to the Semifinal Round, playing on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 8 a.m. EST in Helsinki.

"It's always important to get off to a great start in the game," said U.S. head coach Mike Eaves (Madison, Wis.). "And we did that tonight. Our player of the game, Al Montoya (Glenview, Ill./Univ. of Michigan), deserved that honor. He was key on our penalty killing and made some very big saves to preserve that lead for us. Overall, we're very excited."

Russia carried much of the play in the early going, but for the fourth time in as many games Team USA opened the scoring in the first period. Less than 20 seconds after teammate Brady Murray (Faribault, Minn./Univ. of North Dakota) had drawn a slashing penalty, U.S. forward Ryan Kesler (Livonia, Mich./Manitoba Moose) found Patrick O'Sullivan (Sterling Heights, Mich./Mississauga Ice Dogs) sliding into the slot, where he dragged a quick wrister past Russian goaltender Konstantin Barulin.

Late in the first the U.S. scored two goals in less than a minute to take a 3-0 lead. A high stick by Alexander Semin resulted in a five-on-three advantage for Team USA, during which a broken play afforded Parise two chances to hammer a weak-side goal past Barulin at 18:45. The U.S. made it 3-0 on the ensuing five-on-four advantage when Patrick Eaves (Faribault, Minn./Boston College) moved the puck to a breaking Stephen Werner (Chevy Chase, Md./Univ. of Massachusetts) who, on a three-on-two rush, shot high and ended up knocking in his own rebound.

Barulin did not start the second, but the U.S. scored a shorthanded goal on Russian netminder Denis Khudyakov in the middle frame to cap its scoring. Playing with O'Sullivan in the penalty box for holding, Team USA scored shorthanded to extend its lead to 4-0, when Zach Parise (Faribault, Minn./Univ. of North Dakota) drove into the defensive zone, thwarted Russia's breakout setup behind the net, stole a Khudyakov clearing attempt and slid a wrap-around effort into an untended net at 15:57.

Russia eventually scored on Montoya, who was forced to make a number of difficult saves throughout the game, with a power-play goal at 10:45 of the third, after the U.S. took three penalties in fewer than two minutes. With six seconds remaining in a five-one-three, Russia set up its power play and worked the puck low to Sergei Anshakov, who scored from in close.

In Helsinki, Canada beat the Czech Republic, 5-1, to gain the top seed in Group B. The semifinal opponent for the United States will be determined by a Qualification Round game on Jan. 2. Team USA's game will be exclusively audiocast on USA Hockey's official website, usahockey.com.

GAME SUMMARY

United States 3 - 1 - 0 -- 4
Russia 0 - 0 - 1 -- 1

First Period: Scoring: 1, USA, Sullivan (Eaves, Suter), 9:45 (pp). 2, USA, Parise (Eaves), 18:48 (pp). 3, USA, Werner (Parise), 19:21 (pp). Penalties: O'Sullivan, USA (tripping), 1:02; Sporodpmpv, RUS (slashing), 9:33; Bench, USA (too many men), 10:49; Korneev, RUS (slashing), 11:34; Kesler, USA (roughing), 13:37; Grot, USA (roughing), 13:37; Carle, USA (slashing), 14:44; Tunik, RUS (hooking), 17:11; Semin, RUS (high sticking), 18:30.

Second Period: Scoring: 4, USA, Parise (unassisted), 5:57 (sh). Penalties: Eaves, USA (boarding), 1:36; Kosmachev, RUS (kneeing), 7:01; Gimaev, RUS (roughing), 10:18; Kesler, USA (hooking), 12:18; Korneev, RUS, (unsportsmanlike conduct), 12:18; Moore, USA (elbowing), 12:34; Pestunov, RUS (misconduct), 14:41; O'Sullivan, USA (holding), 15:04; Korneev, RUS (interference), 19:08.

Third Period: Scoring: 5, RUS, Anshakov (Gimaev, Spiridonov), 10:45. Penalties: Suter, USA (high sticking), 8:51; Fritsche, USA, (high sticking), 9:03; Wisniewski, USA (unsportsmanlike), 10:22; Likens, USA (roughing), 18:00; Semin, RUS (roughing), 18:00; Shkotov, RUS (charging), 18:00.

Shots: USA: 15 - 10 - 10 -- 35. RUS: 8 - 10 - 12 -- 30

Goaltenders: USA: Montoya (30 shots, 29 saves). RUS: Barulin (15 shots, 12 saves); Khudyakov (20 shots, 19 saves).

Referee: Vladimir Sindler. Linesmen: Stanislav Barvir, Derek Doucette.