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MWC 2017: USA Hockey beats Russia, wins group

By Nic Hendrickson

COLOGNE, GERMANY - MAY 16: Kevin Hayes of the USA is congratulated after scoring the third goal during the Russia v USA 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship match at Lanxess Arena on May 16, 2017 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)
COLOGNE, GERMANY - MAY 16: Kevin Hayes of the USA is congratulated after scoring the third goal during the Russia v USA 2017 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship match at Lanxess Arena on May 16, 2017 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images) /
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USA Hockey capped off a fantastic six-game winning streak today in their 5-3 win over arch-rivals Russia.

USA hockey finished top of their group today at the IIHF World Championship. They finished the group out on a six-game winning streak, after losing their first game to Germany. To put the cherry on top of the icing, the final win of the group to secure the top spot was over arch-rival Russia.

USA Hockey put on a clinic against Russia, scoring five goals courtesy of four different players. Kevin Hayes continued his fantastic play today, scoring two goals in the game. Hayes won player of the game on Saturday in the USA’s 6-1 win over Slovakia, his first game at the tournament.

Hayes was joined on the score sheet by young Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin, New York Islanders forward Brock Nelson, and Islanders forward Anders Lee, who scored the game-winning goal.

Jimmy Howard started in net for USA Hockey today, making 16 saves on 19 shots on goal. Howard will need to have better performances than this against the top teams if the USA is to continue this hot streak to their ultimate goal, winning the tournament.

While the Russians kept the score respectable and only ended up losing 5-3, this doesn’t tell the whole story of the day. USA Hockey outshot Russia 16-3 in the first period, 13-11 in the second, and 6-5 in the third period.

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Despite being heavily outshot, Russia took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to Nikita Gusev. The second period was packed full of action, seeing five goals in total and evening the score out at 3-3 going into the second intermission. This is when Anders Lee got his game winner and Brock Nelson added an insurance goal to see USA Hockey win 5-3.

USA Hockey will face the fourth-placed team from Group B in the quarterfinals on Thursday, May 18.

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