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Russia defeats US as Finalnd wins

American Robert Esche stops a shot by Russia during the World Cup of Hockey in St. Paul Minnesota, Thursday. Russia defeated the USA 3-1. PHOTO: AFP

Alex Kovalev scored the winning goal and minor-league goaltender Illya Bryzgalov held his own against the American stars as Russia beat the US 3-1 Thursday night in the World Cup of Hockey.

Bryzgalov, property of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, had 20 saves, and Dainius Zubrus and Viktor Kozlov also scored for Russia, which dealt Team USA its second consecutive loss. The Americans, 0-2 in the tournament, lost to Canada 2-1 on Tuesday in Montreal.

A handful of Russian fans, some wearing old Soviet Union jerseys, consistently made more noise than the American crowd. Their team gave them plenty to cheer for, outhustling an American squad with high-profile NHL players.

St. Louis Blues forward Keith Tkachuk scored Team USA's goal on a power play. The Americans stayed close thanks to another stellar performance by goaltender Robert Esche, who finished with 42 saves.

Esche, who stopped 30 shots against Canada, held off the speedy Russians for most of the game. Russia outshot the Americans 45-21.

Dallas Stars forward Mike Modano played for Team USA despite a lower-body injury. He assisted on Tkachuk's goal with a pretty pass, but the US team seemed flat offensively.

After a sluggish first period in which they were outshot 16-4, the Americans came out aggressively in the second, getting six shots in the first five minutes. But Russia tightened up defensively and played a physical style.

Kovalev's winner, at 5:05 of the third period, was a thing of beauty. He slipped the puck through a defender's legs, charged to the left, waited for Esche to go down and launched the puck into the right corner. Kozlov sealed it with 1:58 remaining when he wristed the puck from the high slot between two defenders and between Esche's pads.

In the second period, Zubrus got help from American captain Chris Chelios on his team's first goal. With a defender on his back, Zubrus skated around the back of the goal and fired a shot that hit off Chelios' skate and into the net to put Russia up 1-0.

But the Americans answered 1:24 later when Modano sent a perfect pass from the blue line to a cutting Tkachuk, who slid the puck under Bryzgalov's pads with 6:16 to play in the second period.

Finland 3, Germany 0

Miikka Kiprusoff posted his second straight shutout as Finland blanked Germany 3-0 Thursday night in the World Cup of Hockey, clinching home-ice advantage in the quarterfinals next week.

Kimmo Timonen, Teemu Selanne and Jere Lehtinen scored for Finland, which shut out the Czech Republic 4-0 in their opener Monday night in Helsinki.

"It has worked well. I have to thank the team for defending well," Kiprusoff said. "The trickiest situations arose when Germany played with five against three, then there are always chances."

The Finns return to their capital to meet archrival Sweden on Saturday. Sweden is also 2-0 in the European pool and gained home-ice advantage in the quarters with consecutive victories over Germany (5-2) and the Czechs (4-3).

Germany travels to Prague next to meet the Czechs on Friday in a game between the two winless teams. In the quarters, the group winner meets the No. 4 team at home and the runner-up plays the No. 3 team at home.

Timonen, one of the regular defenseman behind Finland's top line featuring Saku Koivu at center with Selanne and Lehtinen as wingers, scored the opening goal at 10:47 with Finland on the power play before a crowd of 12,975.

Selanne, who got an assist on the first goal, notched his first at 11:27 in the second, one-timed a slap shot from the left circle while the Finns had a two-man advantage for 28 seconds.

Goalie Olaf Kolzig, starting his second game in the tournament, had no chance. Timonen set up Selanne's first goal in the tournament with a perfect pass.

The Germans, who played much better in the second period, had an excellent chance to get back into the game when they had a two-man advantage for two minutes later in the period.

But "Kipper," as Kiprusoff is known in Calgary where he was one of the Flames' major weapons en route to the Stanley Cup finals last season, was never seriously challenged by the Germans.

Instead, Mikko Eloranta -- one of only two players from the Finnish League -- wasted a golden chance to make it 3-0 after the Finns killed the penalties. Leaving the penalty box, he took a mid-ice pass and skated in all alone, but Kolzig made a brilliant pad save.

Lehtinen made it 3-0 at 15:38 in the third period, roofing a backhander from the slot past a screened Kolzig.
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