TAMPERE, Finland (Ticker) - The United States earned a spot at next year's tournament with a 4-2 triumph over Belarus on Saturday at the World Hockey Championships.
Forced into the relegation round after three straight losses, the U.S. got a goal and two assists from John Pohl and scored three times on the power play to assure itself no worse than a 13th-place finish.
"It's tough because as happy and relieved as I am to have this win, I feel just as bad for Belarus," American coach Lou Vairo said. "They've worked just as hard as us, and it's tough."
Pohl, who plays for the Worcester IceCats of the American Hockey League, scored on the power play with 24 seconds to go in the opening period to lift the U.S. into a 2-2 tie.
He also set up power-play tallies in the second period by Calgary Flames defenseman Jordan Leopold - a former college teammate at Minnesota - and Adam Hall of the Nashville Predators. Former NHLer Vladimir Tsyplakov and Aleksei Strakhau scored for Belarus, which has lost four of five games.
In Saturday's other relegation game, Slovenia rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-3 tie with Japan in a battle of winless teams.
In qualifying-round games, surprising Switzerland rallied past Latvia, 4-2, for its third straight win. Beat Forster scored the go-ahead goal in the second period for the Swiss, who face unbeaten Canada on Sunday.
Powerful Sweden pulled away in the third period for a 7-1 rout of Denmark, Finland blanked Ukraine, 9-0, and Germany got goals from five different players and 35 saves from Oliver Jonas in a 5-1 triumph over Austria.
P.J. Axelsson of the Boston Bruins scored twice and Niklas Andersson chipped in a goal and three assists for the Swedes, who erupted for four goals in the final period.
A goal by Frederik Akesson lifted Denmark into a 1-1 tie in the first period, but Colorado Avalanche superstar Peter Forsberg put Sweden ahead for good.
"We played well in the first, but then by the third, there was just no stopping Sweden," Danish coach Mikael Lundstrom said.
Kimmo Rintanen scored four goals for the host Finns, who bounced back from Friday's 5-1 loss to Slovakia. Teemu Selanne tallied twice and 11 different players had at least one point for Finland.
"We had a mentally tough process in the last 24 hours," Finnish coach Hannu Aravirta said. "At times like these, teams can fall apart or teams can come together. We are coming together and showing that we are not giving up after two losses."
http://www.nhl.com/onthefly/news/143060.html
Forced into the relegation round after three straight losses, the U.S. got a goal and two assists from John Pohl and scored three times on the power play to assure itself no worse than a 13th-place finish.
"It's tough because as happy and relieved as I am to have this win, I feel just as bad for Belarus," American coach Lou Vairo said. "They've worked just as hard as us, and it's tough."
Pohl, who plays for the Worcester IceCats of the American Hockey League, scored on the power play with 24 seconds to go in the opening period to lift the U.S. into a 2-2 tie.
He also set up power-play tallies in the second period by Calgary Flames defenseman Jordan Leopold - a former college teammate at Minnesota - and Adam Hall of the Nashville Predators. Former NHLer Vladimir Tsyplakov and Aleksei Strakhau scored for Belarus, which has lost four of five games.
In Saturday's other relegation game, Slovenia rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 3-3 tie with Japan in a battle of winless teams.
In qualifying-round games, surprising Switzerland rallied past Latvia, 4-2, for its third straight win. Beat Forster scored the go-ahead goal in the second period for the Swiss, who face unbeaten Canada on Sunday.
Powerful Sweden pulled away in the third period for a 7-1 rout of Denmark, Finland blanked Ukraine, 9-0, and Germany got goals from five different players and 35 saves from Oliver Jonas in a 5-1 triumph over Austria.
P.J. Axelsson of the Boston Bruins scored twice and Niklas Andersson chipped in a goal and three assists for the Swedes, who erupted for four goals in the final period.
A goal by Frederik Akesson lifted Denmark into a 1-1 tie in the first period, but Colorado Avalanche superstar Peter Forsberg put Sweden ahead for good.
"We played well in the first, but then by the third, there was just no stopping Sweden," Danish coach Mikael Lundstrom said.
Kimmo Rintanen scored four goals for the host Finns, who bounced back from Friday's 5-1 loss to Slovakia. Teemu Selanne tallied twice and 11 different players had at least one point for Finland.
"We had a mentally tough process in the last 24 hours," Finnish coach Hannu Aravirta said. "At times like these, teams can fall apart or teams can come together. We are coming together and showing that we are not giving up after two losses."
http://www.nhl.com/onthefly/news/143060.html
