CRIMMITSCHAU, Germany – J.T. Miller (East Palestine, Ohio) scored twice and Reid Boucher (Grand Ledge, Mich.) netted the game-winning goal with just 21 seconds remaining in regulation, as the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team edged Russia, 4-3, here tonight in the preliminary round of the 2011 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men's U18 Championship. With the win, Team USA remains undefeated through three games of the tournament.

"These were two very good teams and it was a great game for everyone involved," said Ron Rolston, head coach of the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team. "The game was so tight that it came down to faceoffs and we were fortunate to get the game-winner off of one tonight."

Team USA opened the scoring 7:07 into the opening frame with a goal from Travis Boyd(Hopkins, Minn.).Nicolas Kerdiles(Irvine, Calif.) sent a pass from the right boards to Boyd in the slot, who then spun around and lifted the puck past Russian goaltender Andrei Vasilevski. Only 3:55 later, Miller increased the U.S. lead when he fired a wrist shot high over Vasilevski's shoulder for a power-play tally.

When Russia scored at the 5:04 mark of the second period, Team USA answered just over a minute later, when Miller notched his second goal of the game. Boucher fired a shot that was blocked away by Vasilevski, but Miller found the rebound and converted for the score to put the U.S. up, 3-1.

Russia responded to tie the game with less than five minutes left in the third period, but Boucher netted the eventual game-winning goal for Team USA with just 21 seconds remaining in regulation. Rocco Grimaldi (Rossmoor, Calif.) won an offensive zone faceoff that directed the puck to Boucher, who then fired a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net to give the U.S. a 4-3 victory.

John Gibson (Pittsburgh, Pa.) made 36 saves in the win for the U.S., while Vasilevski stopped 36 shots in the loss for Russia.

The U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team finishes preliminary-round play on Tuesday (April 19) against host Germany at 7:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. EDT), at Crimmitschau Arena. The game will be streamed live on FASTHockey.com.

NOTES: The U.S. went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Russia was 1-for-5 with the man advantage ... J.T. Miller was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Robbie Russo(Westmont, Ill.) extended his point streak at the 2011 IIHF World Men's U18 Championship to three games, with five points (1-4) in that span ... With Rocco Grimaldi'sassist in tonight's win, the forward now ranks fifth in all-time points for Team USA at the IIHF World Men's U18 Championship. Grimaldi has recorded 14 points (3-11) in ten games, having played for the gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team at last year's tournament in Belarus ...All 22 players on the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team come from USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, based in Ann Arbor, Mich. ... Click here for the full U.S. roster ... Team USA coverage throughout the 2011 IIHF World Men's U18 Championship can be found on USAHockey.com and Facebook. For live U.S. scoring updates, follow @USAHockeyScores and #U18WMC on Twitter ... All U.S. games will be streamed live on USAHockey.FASTHockey.com... All 22 members of the 2011 U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team train with The Hockey IntelliGym, a revolutionary new software program released on October 1, 2010 that trains hockey sense. To learn more, visit USAHockeyIntelliGym.com.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 2 - 1 - 1 - 4
RUS 0 - 1 - 2 - 3

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Boyd (Kerdiles), 7:07; 2, USA, Miller (Russo), 11:02, (pp). Penalties: RUS, Saveliev (hooking), 2:09; USA, Samuelsson (high-sticking), 7:13; RUS, Tkachev (kneeing), 9:20; USA, Samuelsson (hooking), 12:58; RUS, Konkov (boarding), 17:35.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, RUS, Kucherov (unassisted), 5:04; 4, USA, Miller (Boucher), 6:22. Penalties: USA, Gibson (interference), 10:02.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, RUS, Yakupov (Yarullin, Grigorenko), 3:35, (pp); 6, RUS, Kucherov (Yarullin, Yakupov), 15:16; 7, USA, Boucher (Grimaldi), 19:39. Penalties: USA, Reid (tripping), 2:48; USA, Larraza (tripping), 10:59.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total

USA 13 19 8 40
RUS 7 18 14 39
         
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Gibson, 60:00 7-7 18-17 14-12 39-36
RUS, Vasilevski, 59:43 13-11 19-18 8-7 40-36

Power Play: USA 1-3; RUS 1-5

Penalties: USA 5-10; RUS 3-6