RIGA, Latvia – Playing what Head Coach Mike Eaves called, “the best game we’ve played in the tournament,” the 2006 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, tough the game time is to be determined. 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 opened a 2-0 lead in 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. With just 17 seconds left in the stanza, Mark Cullen (Moorhead, Minn./Chicago Blackhawks/Colorado College) fired a shot 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 his 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 United States 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 kept Team USA's opponent scoreless in the frame. Dustin Brown (Ithaca, N.Y./Los Angeles Kings) scored the final goal of the game at 7:25 when he took a cross-ice pass from Malone and converted 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.
GAME SUMMARY
USA 2-0-1 -- 3
CZE 0-1-0 -- 1
First Period – Scoring: 1, USA, Malone, 13:03; 2, USA, Cullen (Hilbert, Park), 19:43. Penalties: USA, Brown (tripping), 6:34; CZE, Bench (too many players), 8:42.
Second Period – Scoring: 3, CZE, Michalek (Erat, Vyborny), 7:25. Penalties: USA, Malone (holding the stick), 16:42.
Third Period – Scoring: 4, USA, Brown (Malone), 7:25. Penalties: CZE, Hedja (interference), 3:20; USA, Orpik (slashing), 9:24; CZE, Krajicek (cross-checking), 19:02.
Shots By Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 11 10 6 27
CZE 7 12 7 26
Goaltending (SH-SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Bacashihua, 60:00 7-7 12-11 7-7 26-25
CZE, Hnilicka, 60:00 11-9 10-10 6-5 27-24
Power Play: USA 0-3, CZE 0-3
Penalties: USA 3-6, CZE 3-6
Officials: Referee-Alexander Poliakov; Linesmen-Ansis Eglitis, Yuriy Oskirko
Attendance: 7,441