MATCHUP VS. RUSSIA

The winner of this game will advance to the semifinals and face the winner of the Canada vs. Czech Republic matchup that is taking place at the same time at Metallurg Ice Rink in Magnitogorsk, Russia. 

Russia finished the preliminary round is 2-1-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L), good enough for second place in Group B. and right below the U.S.  for the third spot in Group A. Russia is coming off a 6-5 shootout victory against Slovakia on Tuesday (April 24). Its other two victories came against France (7-1) and the Czech Republic (3-2). Russia's lone loss came against Finland (5-4) on Sunday (April 22), who finished atop Group A with a perfect 4-0-0-0 record. Russia has a +7 goal differential in the tournament, which matches Team USA's. 

Russia is led offensively by Kiril Marchenko, who recorded six points (3-3-6) in the four preliminary round matchups. He is currently tied for eighth in the tournament scoring race. Goaltender Amir Miftakhov has appeared in all four games for Russia, amassing a goals-against average of 3.39 and .863 save percentage. He's also allowed the most power play goals (6) of any goaltender in the tournament. 

All-time, the U.S. is 6-1-0-10 (W-OTW-OTL-L) although the U.S. has won five of the last seven matchups and the goal scored are even at 58 each.

Although the two countries have never met in the quarterfinals, they have met seven times in the playoff round, including five medal games, which the U.S. has won one of. The last playoff matchup came in 2013 in Sochi, Russia, when the U.S. defeated Russia 4-3 in overtime in the semifinal before moving on to earn a silver medal. 

The two teams last met a year ago in the preliminary round where Ryan
Poehling (Lakeville, Minn./St. Could State University) scored twice and  Sean Dhooghe (Aurora, Ill./University of Wisconsin) added three assists to help the U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team to a 5-4 victory against Russia.

THINGS WORTH MENTIONING

The U.S. has only lost one quarterfinal matchup in the 20-year history of the tournament ... The U.S. has won five of the last seven matchups with Russia ... Jack Hughes currently ranks second in the tournament in points with nine (3-6-9) through four games ... Oliver Wahlstrom is tied for second in the tournament in goal scoring with five through the preliminary round ... The underage (2001 birth year) skaters (Cole Caufield, Jack Hughes, Alex Turcotte and Cam York) have combined for 25 points through five games for Team USA ... The U.S. is averaging 43 shots per game through two games and is only allowing opponents to 24.5 shots per game ... The U.S. owns the second-ranked power play and top-ranked penalty kill units in the tournament ... The U.S. has earned two medals at the U18 Men's World Championship while on Russian soil ... The last playoff matchup came in 2013 in Sochi, Russia, when the U.S. defeated Russia 4-3 in overtime in the semifinal before moving on to earn a silver medal. 

QUARTERFINAL HISTORY

The U.S. will play in its 11th quarterfinal matchup in the 20-year history of the IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship. In the previous 10 quarterfinal matchups, the U.S. has only lost once. The loss came back in 2001 when the U.S. made its first appearance in the quarterfinals. The U.S. lost to the Czech Republic 5-4 in overtime. Since that point, the U.S. has won nine straight quarterfinal matchups, including three against the Czech Republic, more than any other country. 

WAHLSTROM CLOSING IN ON U.S. RECORD

Following his fifth goal of the 2018 IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship in the victory against Belarus, forward Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass./USAH NTDP) has cracked the top five list for goals scored by U.S. skaters. Wahlstrom scored four goals in last year's tournament, bringing his career total to nine. Wahlstrom is now tied for fourth all-time with Brett
Sterling (2002/Chicago Wolves). Phil Kessel (2004 & 2005/Pittsburgh Penguins) holds the U.S. record with 16 goals in 12 games.

TOURNAMENT LEADERBOARD

At the end of the preliminary round, several U.S. players were atop the leaderboard in various categories. Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla./USAH NTDP) finished with nine points (3-6-9), good enough for second behind Slovakia's Maxim Cajkovic who recorded 11 points (4-7-11). Oliver
Wahlstrom currently sits tied for sixth in points with six (5-1-6) and tied for second in goal scoring with five. Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich./USAH NTDP) currently sits second in faceoff percentage with 70.59% on 17 attempts. Underager Cam York (Anaheim Hills, Calif./USAH NTDP) is tied with Sweden's Adam Boqvist for first in defensemen scoring with six points (0-6-6). 

PRELIMINARY ROUND REWIND

The U.S. finished third in the Group A standings after collecting a record of 2-0-0-2. The U.S. and Russia are tied for the third-best goal differential after the preliminary round.

In the tournament opener forward Jack Hughes recorded three points and Oliver Wahlstrom scored twice for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team in its 6-4 loss to Canada.

In the second matchup, Team USA capped their back-to-back preliminary round start by scoring eight goals and defeating Switzerland, 8-5. Jack
Hughes and Cam York recorded three-point nights for Team USA. 

In the third preliminary round game, Oliver Wahlstrom scored his tournament-leading fourth goal and goaltender Spencer Knight
(Darien, Conn./USAH NTDP) made 38 saves for the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team in a 3-1 loss against Sweden. 

The U.S. closed out preliminary round play by shutting out Belarus 8-0 thanks to a Cole Caufield (Stevens Point, Wis./ USAH NTDP) hat trick and a 13-save performance by Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich./USAH NTDP).