BERN, Switzerland — Russia scored three power-play goals to beat the United States 4-1 in a second-round match at the ice hockey world championship on Saturday.
The U.S. took an early 1-0 lead, but took too many penalties as Russia rallied to make it 3-1 at the end of the first period.
Russia increased its lead on another power play early in the second period, and the U.S. couldn’t rally in the teams’ first meeting at the worlds in five years.
Defending champion Russia secured a spot in the quarterfinals as a top seed, having won Group E with 11 points with a game to spare.
The U.S. is second with seven points with one game to play.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Lee Stempniak scored for the U.S., cutting in through the left circle to send a wrist shot through the pads of goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.
But the U.S. was quickly called twice for hooking — by 19-year-old Colin Wilson and Kyle Okposo — and the Russians took full advantage.
Oleg Saprykin tied it with a shot from the crease on the first power play, and Alexander Perezhogin connected on a pass from behind the net to beat goalie Robert Esche on the second.
Russia took a 3-1 lead at 17:06 when Sergei Mozyakin’s slap shot beat Esche low to his right, with the puck bouncing in off the post.
Okposo was then called for charging early in the second period, and Alex Radulov increased Russia’s lead by taking a backhand pass from Saprykin and beating Esche.
The Russians then shut down the young American team — which has an average age of just over 24 — the rest of the way. The only Russian player younger than 24 is Radulov, the 22-year-old forward who broke his Nashville Predators contract last summer to play for native club Salavat Yulayev.
The teams last met in a second-round match at the 2004 worlds at the Czech Republic. The U.S. won that game 3-2 in Ostrava on its way to a bronze medal, the last time it has finished on the podium.
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