PLYMOUTH, Mich. – Seven different players recorded multi-point games, including two-goal efforts by Kendall Coyne (Palos Heights, Ill.), Brianna Decker (Dousman, Wis.) and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson (Grand Forks, N.D.), as the U.S. Women’s National Team defeated Russia, 7-0, here today in its second preliminary-round game at the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship at USA Hockey Arena. Goaltender Maddie Rooney(Andover, Minn.) made 14 saves while picking up the victory in her debut with the U.S. Women’s National Team.
“It was a complete team effort again today and I’m proud of this team opening the tournament with two great performances less than 24 hours apart,” said Robb Stauber, head coach of the 2017 U.S. Women’s National Team. “We look forward to the off day tomorrow before refocusing for our game against Finland on Monday.”
The U.S. was awarded a pair of power-play opportunities in the opening 11 minutes of play, but was unable to convert on either despite applying heavy pressure in the Russian zone.
Team USA took the lead when Amanda Kessel (Madison, Wis.) buried a rebound off of a partial breakaway by Monique Lamoureux-Morando (Grand Forks, N.D.) with 1:23 left in the opening frame. The score came just two seconds after the U.S. killed off an extended power play for Russia, which included 1:29 of a five-on-three advantage.
Coyne doubled the U.S. lead with 7:52 remaining in the second stanza. The play started when Decker fed a pass on the rush for Coyne, who one-timed the puck from the right circle for the tally.
Just 56 seconds later, Lamoureux-Davidson made it 3-0 with a slap shot from the left faceoff dot that tucked below the crossbar into the back of the net.
Lamoureux-Davidson netted her second goal on the power play with 28 seconds left in the middle frame. Coyne fed a pass in the slot for Lamoureux-Davidson, who deked around the Russian goaltender and slid the puck into the net to make the score 4-0 after two periods.
Decker one-timed a pass from Hilary Knight (Sun Valley, Idaho) with 10:45 left in the final period to make it 5-0, and Coyne and Decker each netted their second goals of the game in the final minute to account for the 7-0 final.
Coyne and Decker each finished with four points (2-2), while Lamoureux-Morando notched three assists. Knight and Bellamy dished out two assists and Kessel added an assist to go along with her first-period marker.
The U.S. has now opened the tournament with two consecutive shutouts.
Team USA (2-0-0-0; W-OTW-OTL-L) closes preliminary-round play Monday (April 3) versus Finland at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on NHL.com and televised on delay on NHL Network on Tuesday (April 4) at 10 a.m. ET.
NOTES: The U.S. outshot Russia, 34-14, and finished 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. For complete game statistics, click here … Kendall Coyne was named the U.S. Player of the Game … The U.S. is the defending champion and has played Canada in the gold medal game in all 17 of the previous events, capturing the event’s top prize a total of seven times (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016), including six of the last seven tournaments …
