BRNO, Czech Republic - Collin Olson (Apple Valley, Minn.) made 21 saves in a shutout effort, as the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team blanked Finland, 4-0, here tonight at Kajot Arena in its opening game at the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation Men's World Under-18 Championship.
 

"I'm really pleased with how the guys played tonight," said Danton Cole, head coach of the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team. "We played well defensively, worked hard and our special teams were great. We were solid all the way around."

Team USA and Finland skated to an exciting back-and-forth first period, but neither team was able to light the lamp. The U.S. managed to kill off three penalties and Olson made seven stops in the stanza to keep Finland off the board. Team USA rung one shot off the post, but also didn't find the scoresheet.

The second period was controlled by Team USA, outshooting Finland, 13-6, in the frame. The U.S. drew three penalties, but could not convert on its opportunities, as Finnish netminder Joonas Korpisalo turned aside each Team USA chance.

Nicolas Kerdiles(Irvine, Calif.) tallied the first goal of the game 54 seconds into the final frame, when he banged a loose puck past Korpisalo. The power-play tally was assisted by Daniel O'Regan (Needham, Mass.) and Ryan Hartman (West Dundee, Ill.). Just over two minutes later, Matthew Lane (Rochester, N.Y.) doubled the U.S. lead when he deposited the puck into the net. J.T. Compher (Northbrook, Ill.) and Frankie Vatrano(East Longmeadow, Mass.) collected assists on the tally.

Quentin Shore (Denver, Colo.) added to the Team USA lead at 4:24 when he scored off passes by Riley Barber (Livonia, Mich.) and Kyle Osterberg (Lakeville, Minn.). After drawing a major penalty, Connor Carrick (Orland Park, Mich.) tallied a goal on the subsequent power play to put the U.S. up by four goals. Lane and Vatrano earned assists, both their second points on the night.

Olson made all eight saves in the third period and 21 total for the U.S. in the victory, while Korpisalo stopped 33 shots for Finland in the loss.

The U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team continues tournament play on Saturday (April 14) against the Czech Republic at 1 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT), at Alcaplast Arena. The game will be streamed live on FASTHockey.com.

NOTES: Collin Olson was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Team USA outshot Finland, 37-21 ... The U.S. went 2-for-9 on the power play, while Finland went 0-for-6 ... The U.S. enters the tournament having captured a record eight consecutive medals, including back-to-back gold medals in 2005-06, three straight gold medals from 2009-11, two silver medals (2004, 2007) and one bronze medal (2008). Team USA’s six gold medals are the most of any country in IIHF Men's World Under-18 Championship history (event began in 1999). Team USA earned its first gold medal in 2002 … The U.S. is in Group A with Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Finland. Group B consists of Germany, Latvia, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland ... Follow @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for live scoring updates during the tournament. Scores will be designated with #U18MWC ... For additional coverage, visit USA Hockey's National Team Development Program Facebook page ... The U.S. Mens National Under-17 and Under-18 Teams train with The Hockey IntelliGym, a revolutionary software program that trains hockey sense. To learn more, visit USAHockeyIntelliGym.com.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

FIN 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
USA 0 - 0 - 4 - 4

First Period – Scoring: None. Penalties: FIN, Tikkinen (hooking), 9:31; USA, Lane (interference), 13:27; USA, Shore (delay-of-game), 15:05; FIN, Lehkonen (tripping), 15:37; USA, Hartman (tripping), 16:08.

Second Period – Scoring: None. Penalties: FIN, Vainonen (elbowing), 1:18; FIN, Vainonen (tripping), 9:01; FIN, Barkov (hooking), 13:42.

Third Period – Scoring: 1, USA, Kerdiles (O'Regan, Hartman), 0:54, (pp); 2, USA, Lane (Compher, Vatrano), 3:04; 3, USA, Shore (Barber, Osterberg), 4:24; 4, USA, Carrick (Lane, Vatrano), 8:35, (pp). Penalties: FIN, Barkov (checking-from-behind), 5:52; FIN, Barkov (game-misconduct), 5:52; USA, Trouba (interference), 6:41; FIN, Kulmala (roughing), 6:41; FIN, Tikkinen (hooking), 10:29, USA, Butcher (hooking), 11:04; USA, Compher (tripping), 14:46; FIN, Lehkonen (boarding), 15:09; USA, Barber (slashing), 16:39.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
FIN 7 6 8 21
USA 7 13 17 37
         
Goaltenders (SH/SV)  1 2 3 Total
FIN, Korpisalo, 60:00 7/7 13/13 17/13 37/33
USA, Olson, 60:00 7/7 6/6 8/8 21/21

Power Play: FIN 0-6; USA 2-9

Penalties: FIN 11-43; USA 7-14