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After an emotional shootout win over Russia yesterday, U.S.A. responded with a 5-1 drubbing of Slovenia in their final game of the preliminary round this morning. Phil Kessel recorded a hat trick for the Americans, while Ryan Miller provided 17 saves in the win. Ryan McDonagh and David Backes also scored for U.S.A. as Joe Pavelski recorded three assists in the victory.
Marcel Rodman had Slovenia's lone goal of the game, as goaltender Luka Gracnar stopped 23 of the 28 shots U.S.A. put on net.
The first handful of minutes in the game and the second half of the contest went as planned for the United States, but for most of the first period and some of the second period Slovenia was outplaying them. After falling behind 2-0 early, Slovenia provided strong cycling and pressure that was ultimately answered by Miller and company. It was an impressive shift in the second period from T.J. Oshie, Paul Stastny, and Blake Wheeler that led to the backbreaking third goal from Kessel.
The United States jumped out to an early multi-goal lead thanks to a pair of tallies from Kessel. After the Toronto Maple Leaf undressed a Slovenian defenseman for the opening goal, Kessel batted in his second goal out of the air after Pavelski chased down a loose puck in the offensive zone and lobbed a cross-crease pass from along the goal line to Gracnar's left.
After Kessel's second goal 4:33 into the affair, Slovenia responded with strong puck possession and cycling, but couldn't find a way to beat Miller before the end of the opening frame.
The second period saw more pressure from Slovenia until the shift from Oshie, Wheeler, and Stastny that provided a few chances and cycling that looked similar to a power play. It was shortly after this shift that Kessel completed his natural hat trick.
Shortly after the line of Oshie, Wheeler, and Stastny dominated in the Slovenian end of the ice and led to tired Slovenian defenders staying out on the ice, it was a shot at the point from Pavelski that led to a rebound for Kessel at the side of the net. Gracnar didn't have a chance to stop the rebound attempt from Kessel.
Kessel's third goal seemed to be the goal that swung momentum back in America's favor, as Wheeler provided an offensive show before setting up McDonagh for his first goal of the tournament. Wheeler started with the puck along the side boards to Gracnar's left after he received a pass from Oshie, as he then skated along the blue line before skating along the side boards on the opposite side of the ice and eventually hitting McDonagh with a perfect cross-ice pass. The New York Rangers' blue liner wasted no time in planting a shot top shelf to make it 4-0 in favor of U.S.A. with 7:43 left in the middle period.
Ryan Callahan connected on a cross-ice pass to Backes early in the third period to make it 5-0 for U.S.A. Miller lost his shutout bid in the final minute, as an outstanding shot from Rodman beat his blocker with 17.6 seconds left in regulation.
Thanks to going 2-1-0-0 in the preliminary round, the United States will enjoy two days of rest before taking on their next opponent.
Notes: Phil Kessel led U.S.A. in scoring in the preliminary round with seven points, as he had four goals and three assists. The trio of Oshie, Pavelski, and James van Riemsdyk were tied for second on the team with four points each…Anze Kopitar failed to record a point or shot on goal in 11:31 TOI for Slovenia in the loss…Kessel and van Riemsdyk are tied for the U.S.A. with a plus-5 rating after three games…Suter has the highest average ice time per game on U.S.A. at the moment with 23:27…Jimmy Howard and Justin Faulk were the only two players on America’s roster to not see the ice in any of the three preliminary round games…U.S.A. won Group A with eight points due to a 2-1-0-0 record. Russia finished second with a 1-1-1-0 record for six points. Slovenia had three points with a 1-0-0-2 record and Slovakia recorded one point with a 0-0-1-2 record.
