Brandon Bochenski and Phil Kessel each scored a goal and an assist on Thursday to lift the US to a 4-2 win over Slovakia in Group F at the ice hockey world championship.
Tuomo Ruutu scored the winning goal in the third period to help Finland beat Switzerland 2-0 in Group E in Moscow.
Slovakia applied pressure on the US early in the opening period, out-shooting the Americans 18-7. The US forwards also made three trips to the penalty box.
PHOTO: EPA
But strong goaltending by John Grahame, who made 29 saves, prevented the Slovaks from converting.
"Fortunately for us John Grahame probably had his best game of the tournament so far," US coach Mike Sullivan said. "He made some critical saves that allowed us to get in the game."
The US scored first at 8:17 when Andrew Hutchinson's slapshot from inside the blue line beat Slovakia goaltender Karol Krizan. Even a man down, the Americans went up 2-0 when David Backes stole the puck and skated down to backhand in high past Krizan at 12:27.
answer
Slovakia answered that score 41 seconds later when Marek Uram made a perfect pass to Zdeno Chara, who flicked it past Grahame at point-blank range.
Kessel's shot rebounded onto Thomas Harant's skate before dribbling between Krizan's legs at 4:52 into the second period to put the US ahead 3-1. Bochenski further padded the American team's lead, backhanding in his own rebound on the power play during a goalmouth scramble at 12:37.
After serving two minutes for high-sticking, Marian Gaborik returned to the ice for eight seconds before making a breakaway and beating Grahame one-on-one.
"It helped that we had a day off and they came in tired," Bochenski said. "We knew we had to get in their face and play high energy from the start and the first two periods we did that."
best players
Slovakia would have been favored over the US, which traditionally struggles to enlist its best players in a tournament that gets little attention from Americans back home.
"Maybe we don't have as many of the high-end skilled players but from our first line to our fourth line we have good players, all NHL players," Bochenski said.
The US faces Germany today, while the Slovaks take on the Czechs.
With Severin Blindenbacher in the penalty box for interference, Ruutu picked up a rebound from a shot from the point by Petteri Nummelin and tapped the puck between the pads of Switzerland goalie Jonas Hiller at 11:37 of the third period.
Finland captain Ville Peltonen added an empty-net goal in the final minute.
After Wednesday's 6-0 loss to Sweden, Switzerland coach Ralph Krueger elected to go with Hiller in goal instead of David Aebischer. Hiller robbed Petri Kantiola with a spectacular glove save early in the third period and kept his team in the game, stopping 29 shots.
"I was surprised at how well they played," Nummelin said. "We had a lot of chances on the power play and finally we scored in the third. We got the three points and sometimes it doesn't matter how you win."
Finland goalie Kari Lehtonen made 18 saves.
Finland next plays Italy today, while Switzerland will take on Denmark.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two