December 29, 2008

OTTAWA, Ontario – The United States National Junior Team built a 4-1 lead over the Czech Republic here tonight and finished with a 4-3 victory to win its second game in as many tries at the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. A tournament-record 19,847 watched at Scotiabank Place as the U.S. won its 100th all-time game in the event.

With just a second left on its first power play attempt of the game, Jordan Schroeder (Prior Lake, Minn./University of Minnesota) rifled a wrist shot into the upper corner of the net from the top of the left circle at 13:00 to stake Team USA to a 1-0 advantage. U.S. netminder Thomas McCollum (Sanborn, N.Y.) stopped all nine shots he faced to help the United States maintain its 1-0 advantage after 20 minutes.

After the Czech Republic tied the game 5:14 into the middle frame, Jonathon Blum's (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) shot from the point was deflected byMatt Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./University of Michigan) into the Czech net at 11:46. James van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J./University of New Hampshire) extended Team USA's lead with a power-play goal at 18:34 on a shot from the bottom of the right circle.

Schroeder received a pass from van Riemsdyk, made a move to get space around the net and beat Czech netminder Dominik Furch on the shortside from in tight at 3:43 of the third period to open up a 4-1 U.S. lead. After a scramble in front of the net, the puck caromed out to the center area between the circles and Martin Paryzek blasted it home with McCollum out of the net at 7:02 to make it 4-2. Then at 16:43, Jan Kana's power play goal got the Czechs to within a goal. The U.S had an empty-net goal waved off due to an offside call with :42 left and missed another opportunity at an empty net not long after. It didn't matter, however, as McCollum, who made 24 saves in all, was strong and picked up his second win of the tournament.

The U.S. National Junior Team returns to action Tuesday (Dec. 30) when it faces Kazakhstan at 7:30 p.m. EST in its third game at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, Ontario. The game can be seen live in the United States on the NHL Network.

NOTES:The victory tonight was the 100th all-time in the IIHF World Junior Championship for the United States ... Forward Jordan Schroeder had two goals and an assist and was named Team USA's Player of the Game. Schroeder has 3-4--7 in two games at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship, and in eight career games at the event shows 4-11--15 ... The U.S. killed off 15 straight opponent power play attempts to start the tournament before yielding a late power play goal to the Czech Republic tonight ... The U.S. is slated to practice from 2-3 p.m. tomorrow (Dec. 29) at Scotiabank Place ... Defenseman Jonathon Blum(Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) is the captain of the 2009 U.S. National Junior Team, while forward Colin Wilson and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y./Boston University) are the team's alternate captains ... The 2009 U.S. National Junior Team trained in Lake Placid, N.Y., at the Olympic Training Center from Dec. 16-20 ... Ron Rolston (Ann Arbor, Mich.), head coach of the U.S. National Under-18 Team within USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, is the head coach of the 2009 U.S. National Junior Team. Nate Leaman (Clifton Park, N.Y./Union College) and P.K. O'Handley (Waterloo, Iowa/Waterloo Black Hawks) are serving as assistant coaches, while Jeff Blashill (Indianapolis, Ind./Indiana Ice) is the goaltending coach ... The NHL Network will broadcast live all Team USA games in the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship ... Team USA finished fourth at the 2008 IIHF World Junior Championship and has played for a medal in the event each of the last six years.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

First Period - Scoring:1, USA, Schroeder (Shattenkirk, Wilson), 13:00 (pp).Penalties: USA, Rust (hooking), 6:09; CZE, Gudas (holding), 11:01.

Second Period - Scoring: 2, CZE, Roman (Okal, Gudas), 5:14; 3, USA, Rust (Blum), 11:46; 4, USA, van Riemsdyk (Shattenkirk, Schroeder), 18:34 (pp). Penalties: USA, Shattenkirk (hooking), 3:04; USA, Palushaj (high-sticking), 6:53; USA, Shattenkirk (high-sticking), 13:44; CZE, Piskacek (holding), 17:42.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, USA, Schroeder (van Riemsdyk), 3:43; 6, CZE, Paryzek (Szturc, Kubalik), 7:02; 7, CZE, Kana (unassisted), 16:43 (pp). Penalties: CZE, Vincour (slashing), 8:07; USA, Bowman (slashing), 11:08; USA, Johnson (tripping), 15:58; USA, Rust (slashing), 20:00.

Power Play:CZE 1-6; USA 2-3
Penalties: CZE 3-6;USA 7-14
Referees: Jari Levonen (FIN), Peter Orszag (SVK)
Linesmen: Sylvan Losier (CAN), Jussi Terho (FIN)
Attendance:19,847