http://espn.go.com/nhl/news/2002/1226/1482634.html Russia 5, USA 1
SYDNEY, Nova Scotia -- Alexander Ovechkin scored three goals to lead defending champion Russia over the United States 5-1 Thursday in Pool A play of the World Junior Hockey Championships.
Kirill Koltsov and Yuri Trubachev also scored for Russia.
Patrick O'Sullivan scored for the United States, which finished fifth last year.
Andrei Medveded made 15 saves in the Russian net, while James Howard and Robert Howard combined to stop 26 shots for the United States.
Switzerland 4, Belarus 2
Beat Forster scored the go-ahead goal 3:52 into the third period as Switzerland beat Belarus 4-2 in Pool A action.
Finland 4, Germany 2
In Pool B play in Halifax, Jussi Jokinen, Finland's leading scorer at the 2002 tournament, scored twice to lead his team to a 4-2 win over Germany.
By Alan Adams | Special to NHL.com
December 28, 2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA -- Canada, Finland and Russia each won their second-straight games, while the United States survived a character test in the third day of competition at the World Junior Championships Saturday.
The Canadians beat the Czech Republic, 4-0, with Nashville Predators' prospects Scottie Upshall and Jordin Tootoo each scoring in the win.
After the Czechs and then the Canadians missed great scoring chances early in the opening period, Upshall showed great patience in opening the scoring at 18:34 of the first.
"The first goal was huge," said Jay McClement, who was drafted by St. Louis in 2001. "We got a lot of momentum from that."
Kyle Wellwood, with perhaps the prettiest goal of the tournament, and Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau also scored for Canada, which is tied with Finland atop their pool after the Finns beat Sweden 3-2 on a late goal by Tuoma Ruutu,
After the game, the Czechs admitted things could have been different had forward Petr Taticek scored early in the first period and not have his shots ricocheted off the post and cross bar in the first five minutes.
"I think it would have been a really different game (if the puck had gone in)," said Taticek. "It brings you lots of confidence when you score in the first five minutes."
Canada and Finland each have four points. They face each other Tuesday and the outcome will likely decide who advances to the semifinals and who has to play the cross-over games against an opponent from the second pool of teams.
The Czechs are in third place with two points, behind the Canucks and Finns, while the Swedes and Germany are winless.
Reply With Quote