Western Collegiate Hockey Association

Team USA goalie Robert Esche deflects the puck during an exhibition hockey game against Sweden Sunday, April 27, 2008, at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

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U.S. Men's National Team Gains 5-1 Win Over Sweden

Mueller Leads Way With Goal and Two Assists

April 28, 2008

PORTLAND, Maine - The U.S. Men's National Team rolled to a 5-1 victory over Sweden here tonight in its lone tune-up prior to beginning play in the 72nd annual International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship on Friday (May 2) in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

"I thought it was a good team effort," said U.S. Head Coach John Tortorella of a game that featured five different USA goal scorers. "It was good to see our team under game conditions."

Team USA jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period. A highlight-reel play resulted in the first U.S. goal when Patrick Kane (Buffalo, N.Y./Chicago Blackhawks) avoided defenders in the high slot with a nifty spin-o-rama move and then found Peter Mueller (Bloomington, Minn./Phoenix Coyotes) who beat Sweden netminder Mikael Tellqvist from the right of the crease at 9:26. The other U.S. goal came on the power play at 12:06 when Patrick O'Sullivan (Winston-Salem, N.C./L.A. Kings) put home the second rebound from in front between the circles. Phil Kessel (Madison, Wis./Boston Bruins/Univ. of Minnesota) and Mueller drew assists on the play. Craig Anderson (Park Ridge, Ill./Florida Panthers), who stopped all 14 shots he faced in the first 32:22 of action, was solid in the opening stanza with 11 saves.

After a scoreless second period, Team USA opened up a 3-0 advantage at 3:58 of the third period when Dustin Brown (Ithaca, N.Y./L.A. Kings) took Nathan Gerbe's (Oxford, Mich./Boston College) feed from behind the net and fired one home from the left circle. The U.S. extended its lead to 4-0 off Gerbe's rebound goal at 11:52. Just 1:29 later, Kane finished Team USA's scoring for the evening when his shot from the side of the circle deflected off a Swedish defender and and past Tellqvist. Mueller won the faceoff to begin the play and drew the lone assist on the goal. Sweden got its only goal of the evening with 2:06 to play off the stick of Mattias Weinhandl.

Team USA will practice at the Family Ice Center in Falmouth, Maine, tomorrow through Wednesday (April 30) before heading to Halifax to begin play in the IIHF World Championship.

NOTES: Coaching staffs from both the U.S. and Sweden will conduct a free coaching clinic for 70 youth coaches in Maine tomorrow evening at the Family Ice Center in Falmouth, Maine ... All 56 games from the 2008 IIHF Men's World Championship will be broadcast live on WCSN.com . The 2008 U.S. Men's National Team is under the direction of Jim Johannson, USA Hockey's assistant executive director of hockey operations, and a four-member advisory group, including NHL general managers Brian Burke (Anahiem), David Poile (Nashville), Ray Shero (Pittsburgh) and Don Waddell (Atlanta). Tony Rossi, vice president of USA Hockey and its international council chair, oversees all aspects of international competition for USA Hockey.

GAME SUMMARY
Scoring By Period

SWE 0 - 0 - 1 -- 1
USA 2 - 0 - 3 -- 5

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA Mueller (Kane), 9:26; 2, USA O'Sullivan (Kessel, Mueller), 12:06 (pp). Penalties: SWE, N. Wallin (interference), 3:50; USA, Booth (interference), 6:33; SWE, Lindstrom (cross-checking), 11:25; USA, Stempniak (hooking); 19:52.

Second Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: SWE, R. Wallin (tripping), 15:53.

Third Period - 3, USA Brown (Gerbe, Greene), 3:58; 4, USA Gerbe (Booth, Stafford); 5, USA Kane (Mueller); 6, SWE Weinhandl (Martensson, R. Wallin), 17:54. Penalties: SWE, Nilson (tripping), 6:12; USA, Kessel (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:15; SWE, Andersson (unsportsmanlike conduct).

Shots by Period

	1	2	3	Total
SWE	11	3	7	21
USA	12	9	10	31

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
SWE, Tellqvist, 60:00 12-10 9-9 10-7 31-26
USA, Anderson, 32:22 11-11 3-3 x-x 14-14
USA, Esche, 27:38 x-x 0-0 7-6 7-6

Power Play: Sweden 0-2; USA 1-4
Penalties: Sweden 5-10; USA 3-6
Officials: Referee - Dave Hansen; Linesmen - Derek Wahl, Kevin Keenan
Attendance: 5,380

Team USA 2008 IIHF Men's World Championship Sechedule May 2-18 . Halifax, Nova Scotia and Quebec City, Quebec

Date Opponent Arena Time (Local/EDT)
April 27 Sweden
(pre-tournament game) Cumberland County Civic Center W, 5-1
May 2 Latvia Halifax Metro Centre 8:15 p.m./7:15 p.m.
May 4 Slovenia Halifax Metro Centre 8:15 p.m./7:15 p.m.
May 6 Canada Halifax Metro Centre 4:30 p.m./3:30 p.m.
May 8-12 Qualification Round Halifax Metro Centre TBD
May 14 Quarterfinal Round TBD TBD
May 16 Semifinal Round Colisée Pepsi 1:00 p.m.
May 17 Bronze-Medal Game Colisée Pepsi 3:00 p.m.
May 18 Gold-Medal Game Colisée Pepsi 1:00 p.m.
Arena Locations: Cumberland County Civic Center (Portland, Maine); Halifax Metro Centre
(Halifax, Nova Scotia); Colisée Pepsi (Quebec City, Quebec)