BOBRUISK, Belarus – Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Bryan Rust (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) each scored twice, while Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) made 30 saves as the U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team shut out Canada, 5-0, here tonight in its third preliminary-round game at the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men's Under-18 Championship. With the win, Team USA improved to 2-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) and clinched a spot in the tournament's quarterfinal round.

"We had such a great effort tonight by every single guy in the locker room," said Kurt Kleinendorst, head coach of Team USA. "Under the circumstances, to step up and perform like that for 60 minutes says an awful lot about this team. One of our goals was that we wanted to get better every game and we're doing well with that so far."

Zucker scored two goals in the opening frame as the U.S. jumped out to a 3-0 lead. He opened the scoring at 5:57 when he jammed the puck through netminder Calvin Pickard's legs. Just 1:23 later and with Team USA on a power play, Rust jammed home Jon Merrill's (Brighton, Mich.) rebound from the top of the crease to double the advantage. Zucker converted on another power-play opportunity when he shoveled home a rebound off of an Adam Clendening(Niagara Falls, N.Y.) shot with 2:51 to play in the first stanza.

Campbell kept the door closed on Canada throughout the second period, stopping all 11 shots he faced in the middle frame. With 2:52 remaining in the stanza, Connor Brickley(Everett, Mass.) centered the puck to a wide-open Austin Watson (Ann Arbor, Mich.), who wristed it from the middle slot over Pickard's left shoulder to make it 4-0.

Rust scored his second goal of the game after wiring Bill Arnold's (Needham, Mass.) pass into the top right corner of the net at 6:02 of the third frame. Campbell turned aside all 10 Canada attempts on goal in the final stanza to preserve the shutout and the 5-0 win.

The U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team returns to action Sunday (April 18) at 7 p.m. (noon EDT) when it takes on host Belarus at Bobruisk Arena.

NOTES:Jack Campbell earned his second career shutout at the IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship. He also shut out Russia in the gold-medal game at the 2009 IIHF World Men's Championship. Campbell now owns a 1.34 goals-against average and .952 save percentage through three games ... Adam Clendening is the leading point-getter for the U.S. with four points (1-3), while Jason Zucker paces the team with three goals ... Defenseman and team captain Jarred Tinordi (Millersville, Md.) leads the U.S. with a plus-4 rating ... The U.S. improved its all-time record against Canada to 6-2-0 ... Team USA's games are available via live webstream at USAHockey.FASTHockey.com... The U.S. has earned an unprecedented six consecutive medals at the IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship, which includes three gold (2005, 2006, 2009), two silver (2004, 2007) and one bronze (2008). Team USA also captured the gold medal in 2002.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 3 1 1 -- 5
CAN 0 0 0 -- 0

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Zucker (Saad, Shore), 5:35; 2, USA, Rust (Balisy, Merrill), 6:58 (pp); 3, USA, Zucker (Clendening), 17:09 (pp). Penalties: USA, Rust (delay of game), 1:00; CAN, McKegg (delay of game), 5:57; USA, Forbort (tripping), 10:38; CAN, Murray (holding), 13:00; USA, Arnold (tripping), 14:30; CAN, McKegg (slashing), 16:28; CAN, O'Connor (hooking), 18:40.

Second Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Watson (Brickley), 17:08. Penalties: USA, Team (too many players), 1:53; USA, Clendening (delay of game), 8:26; USA, Saad (hooking), 10:33; CAN, Connolly (hooking), 14:48; USA, Tinordi (roughing), 17:24; CAN, Dejardins (roughing), 17:24.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, Rust (Arnold, Nieto), 6:02. Penalties: USA, Watson (charging), 8:24; CAN, Thomas (slashing), 10:08; CAN, Reinhart (roughing), 18:56; USA, Rust (roughing), 18:56; USA, Tinordi (delay of game), 19:51.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 16 16 6 38
CAN 9 11 10 30
         
Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Campbell, 60:00 9-9 11-11 10-10 30-30
CAN, Pickard, 60:00 16-13 16-15 6-5 38-33     

Power Play: USA 2-6; CAN 0-8
Penalties: USA 10-20; CAN 8-16
Officials: Referees - Antti Boman (FIN), Sami Partanen (FIN); Linesmen - Tomas Orolin (SVK), Daniel Winge (SWE)
Attendance: 4,500