Team USA will travel to Moscow, Russia, where it will face Austria in the first of three preliminary-round games at the 2007 IIHF World Championship on Friday (April 27) at 4:15 p.m. (local time)/8:15 a.m. (EDT).

“Overall I was pleased with our performance,” said Mike Sullivan, head coach of Team USA. “It was nice to generate some offense and have a chance to work on special teams at both ends of the ice. We have some areas to work on, but I was excited about the energy and enthusiasm we played with.”

Sweden notched the only goal of the first period when Jorgen Jonsson tipped a shot past U.S. netminder John Grahame (Denver, Colo./Carolina Hurricanes/Lake Superior State University) at 4:32 of the opening frame with his team on a two-man advantage.

The United States went on to score three goals, including two power-play tallies, in the middle frame. David Backes (Minneapolis, Minn./St. Louis Blues/Minnesota State University Mankato) evened the game at 2:15 when he buried the rebound of a Kessel shot from the goalmouth. Chris Clark (South Windsor, Conn./Washington Capitals/Clarkson University) then gave Team USA a 2-1 advantage with a power-play goal off a nifty backhand feed from Paul Stastny (Quebec City, Quebec/Colorado Avalanche/University of Denver) at the 10:18 mark.

Stastny rounded out the second-period scoring with a 5-on-3 power-play tally at 17:42. After a Brian Pothier (New Bedford, Mass./Washington Capitals/Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) shot from the point deflected off Stastny’s skate, the forward gathered the puck and tapped it into an open net.

Kessel made it a 4-1 contest 1:48 into the third period when he took a feed from Lee Stempniak (West Seneca, N.Y./St. Louis Blues/Dartmouth College) in the high slot and put a low wrist shot between Sweden netminder Johan Backlund’s legs.

Sweden’s Anton Stralman made it a two-goal game at 5:13 with a slap shot that beat U.S. goaltender Cory Schneider (Marblehead, Mass./Boston College) with his team on a 5-on-3 power play.

Team USA stretched its lead to 5-2 on an Adam Hall (Kalamazoo, Mich./Minnesota Wild/Michigan State University) tally at the 12:34 mark of the final frame. Kessel made a pass across the goalmouth to Hall, who buried a backhand shot.

Sweden wrapped up the scoring at 19:08 on another 5-on-3 power play tally as Johan Akerman’s point shot was tipped past Schneider, high to the glove side.

Grahame stopped 12-of-13 shots he faced for Team USA, while Schneider picked up the victory after he stopped 13-of-15 shots in the third period.

Team USA was 2-for-6 on the power play, while Sweden was 3-for-10 with the man advantage.

NOTES: Stastny was named Team USA’s Player of the Game . . . WCSN.com will provide live and on-demand coverage of all 56 games in the 2007 IIHF World Championship. In addition, select games, including all Team USA contests, will be available on DISH Network Pay-Per-View . . . Barry Smith, head coach and director of hockey operations with SKA St. Petersburg of the Russian Elite League, is serving as associate head coach of Team USA, while David Quinn, associate head coach for the Boston University men’s ice hockey team, is serving as assistant coach.

GAME SUMMARY
Scoring By Period

USA 0-3-2 -- 5
SWE 1-0-2 -- 3

First Period – Scoring: 1, SWE, J. Jonsson (Stralman, K. Jonsson), 4:32 (5x3 pp). Penalties: USA, Hutchinson (hooking), 2:52; USA, Backes (high-sticking), 4:21; USA, Bochenski (slashing), 12:49; SWE, Akerman (tripping), 16:13; USA, Clark (interference), 16:30.

Second Period – Scoring: 2, USA, Backes (Kessel), 2:15; 3, USA, Clark (Stastny), 10:18 (pp); 4, USA, Stastny (Pothier, Cole), 17:42 (5x3 pp). Penalties: SWE, Stralman (hooking), 5:05; SWE, Hedstrom (high-sticking), 9:07; SWE, Hallberg (tripping), 16:15; SWE, Sandstrom (holding), 17:26.

Third Period – Scoring: 5, USA, Kessel (Stempniak, Hutchinson), 1:48; 6, SWE, Stralman (Thornberg, J. Jonsson), 5:13 (5x3 pp); 7, USA, Hall (Kessel), 12:34; 8, SWE, Akerman (Wallin, Tarnstrom), 19:08 (5x3 pp). Penalties: SWE, Akerman (hooking), :26; USA, Bochenski (interference), 1:15; USA, E. Johnson (holding), 3:26; USA, Greene (cross-checking), 4:53; USA, Suter (cross-checking), 13:43; USA, Alberts (roughing), 17:52; USA, Suter (interference), 18:52.

Shots By Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 9 10 3 22
SWE 7 6 15 28

Goaltending (SH-SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Grahame, 40:00 7-6 6-6 x-x 13-12
USA, Schneider, 20:00 x-x x-x 15-13 15-13
SWE, Backlund, 60:00 9-9 10-7 3-1 22-17

Power Play: USA 2-6; SWE 3-10
Penalties: USA 10-20; SWE 6-12
Attendance: 8,892

Team USA 2007 IIHF World Championship Schedule
Moscow, Russia • April 27-May 13

Date Opponent Location/Arena Time (Local/EDT)
April 25 Sweden* Stockholm/Globe Arena W, 5-3
April 27 Austria Arena Mytischi 4:15 p.m./8:15 a.m.
April 29 Belarus Arena Mytischi 8:15 p.m./12:15 p.m.
May 1 Czech Republic Arena Mytischi 8:15 p.m./12:15 p.m.
May 3-7 Qualification Round Arena Mytischi TBD
May 9-10 Quarterfinal Round Arena Khodynka TBD
May 12 Semifinal Round Arena Khodynka 3:15 p.m./7:15 a.m.
7:15 p.m./11:15 a.m.
May 13 Bronze-Medal Game Arena Khodynka 4:15 p.m./8:15 a.m.
Gold-Medal Game Arena Khodynka 8:15 p.m./12:15 p.m.

*exhibition game