U S Hockey
Hockey: U.S. Advances To Semifinals
With 5-3 Win Over Russia At World Cup Of Hockey 2004

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 7, 2004



Keith Tkachuk Notches Four Goals Among Five Points

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Team USA advanced to the Semifinal Round at the World Cup of Hockey 2004 here tonight with a 5-3 victory against Russia. U.S. Player of the Game Keith Tkachuk (Melrose, Mass./St. Louis Blues) tallied four goals and added an assist, while linemate Mike Modano (Livonia, Mich./Dallas Stars) registered helpers on all four of Tkachuk's markers.

With the victory, the defending champion U.S. (2-2-0) advances to the Semifinal Round and next will play on Friday, Sept. 10 here in St. Paul against either Finland (if Canada defeats Slovakia in their Quarterfinal match-up tomorrow in Toronto) or the Czech Republic (if Slovakia defeats Canada). Team USA's semifinal game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

"Our team believed all along that we could do this," said U.S. head coach Ron Wilson (San Jose, Calif.). "Our players were obviously prepared and we weren't going to underestimate the skill level of the Russians."

The U.S. jumped out to a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when Tkachuk tipped in a shot from the point by Modano. The puck skipped through the leg pads of Russian goaltender Bryzgalo at the 11:20 mark.  Tkachuk tallied his second goal early in the second period when he knocked in a pass from behind the goal line by forward Bill Guerin (Worcester, Mass./Dallas Stars) at 1:56.

Russia answered at 7:14 of the second when Dmitry Afanasenkov sent a shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle to the weak-side of U.S. goaltender Robert Esche (Whitesboro, N.Y./Philadelphia Flyers). At 8:08 U.S. forward Jason Blake (Moorhead, Minn./New York Islanders) was awarded a penalty shot but was stopped by Bryzgalo.

Just :36 into the third period Russia tied the score, but a goal from forward Scott Gomez (Anchorage, Alaska/New Jersey Devils) at 4:25 regained the U.S. lead, 3-2. Tkachuk ensured a hat trick only :22 later on a three-way passing play when Guerin spotted Tkachuk on the backdoor and he jammed in his  third goal of the evening. Russia's Ilya Kovalchuk buried a one-time crossing pass to make it 4-3 on the power play at 11:04, but Tkachuk sealed the win on an empty-netter with just under a minute remaining in the contest.

Esche collected 18 saves in net to earn his first win of the tournament. 

GAME SUMMARY
Scoring By Period
RUS 0 1 2 -- 3
USA 1 1 3 -- 5

First Period
Scoring: 1, USA, Tkachuk (Modano, Rafalski), 11:20. Penalties: Chelios, USA (hooking), 18:26.

Second Period
Scoring:  2, USA, Tkachuk (Guerin, Modano), 1:56. 3, RUS, Afanasenkov, RUS (Chubarov, Gonchar), 7:14. Penalty shot: Blake, USA (missed), 8:08. Penalties: Kasparaitis, RUS (holding the stick), 3:39; Rafalski, USA (hooking), 3:56; Khavanov, RUS (cross-checking), 11:57; Kasparaitis, RUS (tripping), 14:50; Leetch, USA (cross-checking), 17:03.

Third Period
Scoring: 4, RUS, Zubrus (Yashin, Kasparaitis), :36. 5, USA, Gomez (Tkachuk), 4:25. 6, USA, Tkachuk (Guerin, Modano), 4:47. 7, RUS, Kovalchuk (Samsonov, Kovalev), 11:04 (pp). 8, USA, Tkachuk (Modano, Rafalski), 19:05 (en). Penalties: Leetch, USA (high-sticking/double minor), 9:54.

Shots: RUS: 7-6-8 -- 21. USA: 5-9-7 -- 21.

Goaltenders: RUS: Bryzgalo (21 shots, 17 saves). USA: Esche (21 shots, 18 saves).

Referees: Paul Devorski and Brad Watson. Linesmen: Brian Murphy and Tim Nowak.

Attendance: 17,218.