LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Four different U.S. players scored and goaltender Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich.) made 22 saves to backstop the U.S. Youth Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team to a 4-2 win against Russia here today at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games.
The two teams will faceoff again at 2 p.m. ET tomorrow (Feb. 19) in a semifinal matchup.
“I’m pleased with what we saw from our team tonight,” said Scott Paluch, head coach of the U.S. Youth Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. “It was another great team effort, and we’re now going to turn our focus to tomorrow’s semifinal.”
Tyler Weiss (Raleigh, N.C.) put Team USA up 1-0 at 4:16 of the opening period, less than a minute after a successful U.S. penalty kill, with the assist credited to Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.).
Jack DeBoer (Madison, N.J.) doubled the U.S lead with 2:35 remaining in the period. Jake Wise (North Andover, Mass.) and TJ Walsh (Shrewsbury, Mass.) picked up helpers on the goal.
Russia’s Alexander Zhabreyev scored the only goal of the second period, finding the back of the net at 7:38, to make it 2-1 heading into the final frame.
Just 1:25 into the third stanza, Jacob Pivonka (Woodridge, Ill.) connected with Weiss to give Team USA another two-goal cushion. The U.S. was whistled for a pair of penalties in the following minutes, but held off Russia’s power play units to maintain a 3-1 lead.
At 9:06 of the third period, Jonathan Gruden (Rochester, Mich.) made it 4-1. Kirill Nizhnikov converted for Russia 2:40 later and the Russians pulled goaltender Amir Miftakhov for an extra skater with less than two minutes to play, but Team USA didn’t allow another goal.
With the win, the U.S. improves to 3-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L).
Notes: The U.S. was a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill. For complete game statistics, click here … Games at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics Games consist of three, 15-minute periods … The U.S. Youth Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team is competing against Canada, Finland, Norway and Russia … For more information on the U.S. Youth Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team, including a complete schedule and roster, click here … Follow all U.S. Games during the Winter Youth Olympic Games via Twitter by following @USAHockey and @USAHockeyScores, and join the conversation using #Lillehammer2016 … In the first-ever Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012, the U.S. Youth Olympics Men’s Ice Hockey Team finished fourth … Created by the International Olympic Committee, the Youth Olympic games bring youth athletes from around the world together through sports and the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship.
