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U.S. beats defending World champs
// USA Hockey // May 16, 2006
RIGA, Latvia – Playing what Head Coach Mike Eaves (Madison, Wis.) called “the best game we’ve played in the tournament,” the U.S. Men’s National Team earned a 3-1 victory today over defending world champion Czech Republic at the 2006 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship. A crowd of 7,441 watched at Arena Riga in what was the final qualification-round game for both teams.
Team USA will take a 4-2-0 record into its quarterfinal contest tomorrow against Sweden at Arena Riga. Tomorrow’s two quarterfinal games are set for 3:15 p.m. (8:15 a.m. EDT) and 7:15 p.m. (12:15 p.m. EDT) and while it is likely that Team USA will play the late game, no final decision will be made until late this evening.
Team USA got off to a 2-0 lead after the opening period. Ryan Malone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pittsburgh Penguins/St. Cloud State University) made it 1-0 at 13:03 when he stopped a Czech clearing attempt with his skate at the right dot, moved around a defender and stuffed it past netminder Milan Hnilicka. Then with just 17 seconds left in the stanza, Mark Cullen (Moorhead, Minn./Chicago Blackhawks/Colorado College) fired one in from just above the goal line and to the left of Hnilicka. Richard Park (Seoul, South Korea/Vancouver Canucks), who started the play with a solid forecheck, and Andy Hilbert (Lansing, Mich./Pittsburgh Penguins/University of Michigan) drew assists on the play.
The Czech Republic scored the only goal of the second period when Jan Hlavac deflected Zbynek Michalek’s shot from the right point past U.S. netminder Jason Bacashihua (Garden City, Mich./St. Louis Blues) at 7:25.
The Czechs had several good chances to start the third period, but Bacashihua stood tall. Dustin Brown (Ithaca, N.Y./Los Angeles Kings) scored the final goal of the game at 7: 25 when he took a nifty cross-ice pass from Malone and blasted one home from the left circle.
“We played well together,” said Eaves. “I really liked what I saw. We’ll have a tremendous challenge tomorrow against Sweden, but it’s a challenge we look forward to.”
Bacashihua picked up the win in goal for Team USA with 25 saves while Hnilicka had 24 stops in the loss.
NOTES: Goaltender David McKee (Irving, Texas/Cornell University) arrived yesterday and has been added to Team USA’s roster … Team USA has advanced to the quarterfinal round in all but two years since the 16-team format of the World Championship was adopted in 1998 … While the final game summary shows the Czech Republic goal scored by Zbynek Michalek, replays clearly show the puck was deflected in by Jan Hlavac … Malone was named Team USA’s Player of the Game … Team USA netminders Craig Anderson (Park Ridge, Ill./Chicago Blackhawks) and Bacashihua have combined for a .936 save percentage in the World Championship to date to rank second in the tournament.
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