RUSSIA VS. FINLAND REWIND:

Vasili Podkolzin sent the puck over Finland’s Jere Huhtamaa’s glove at the 4:50 mark of the second period. Semyon Kizimov and Daniil Zhuravlev picked up assists on the goal.

Grigory Denisenko had a partial breakaway with 4:00 left in the second period but Finland’s back-check negated the chance.

Ruslan Iskhakov extended Russia’s lead at 2:17 of the third period, pushing the puck past Huhtamaa on the rebound.

Andrei Svechnikov extended Russia’s lead, 3-0 on the power play at 13:46 of the third period. Denisenko and Zhuravlev both picked up their second points of the afternoon with the assists.

Ivan Morozov scored a short-handed empty net goal in the final minute to bring the game to its final of 4-0.

Russian goaltender Amir Miftakhof made 28 saves to earn the tournament’s first shutout performance. Finland goaltender Jere Huhtamaa made 26 saves on 29 shots.

Russia returns to action tomorrow at 3:30 when it faces off with the Czech Republic while Finland has a showdown with Sweden at 7 p.m.

USA VS CZECH REPUBLIC REWIND:

Czech Republic opened scoring at 3:21 of the first with a shot from the front of the net by Karel Plasek. Jakub Lauko added an assist on the play.

Just over a minute after, at the 4:31 mark, Joel Farabee  evened the score at one a piece. He sent the puck in from the bottom of the right circle on a pass from Oliver Wahlstrom.

Matej Blumel gave the Czech Republic the lead at the 7:50 mark of the first with a goal on the power play.

After a turnover, the Czech Republic extended its lead at 10:03 of the first to lead, 3-1 after 20 minutes.

At 3:27 of the second period, Jack DeBoer put a shot on net that was redirected by Erik Middendorf for the second USA goal of the night. Mattias Samuelsson also added an assist on the play.

Blumel netted a natural hat trick with two goals in the second period at 13:02 and 18:45 of the second period and one at the 16:01 mark of the third to give the Czech Republic a 6-2 final.

Drew DeRidder and Jonathon Mor combined for 18 saves on the night. The Czech Republic’s Daniel Dvorak tallied 44 saves.

Team USA returns to action Friday, February 16 when they face off against Russia at 7 p.m. ET.

TOURNAMENT REWIND

Finland defeated the Czech Republic, 3-2 in the opening game of the 2018 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament at USA Hockey Arena.

Jesse Moilanen scored the eventual game winner for Finland at the 14:01 of the second period. After a series of passes from Niklas Nordgren, Moilanen sent the puck in over the glove of the Czech Republic’s Lukáš Dostál.

The Czech Republic pulled within one at 5:45 of the third period but eventually fell short.  Adam Gajarsky netted the Czech Republic's second goal on the power play, on a shot from the point.

Dostál finished the game with 23 saves for the Czech Republic while Finland’s Justus Annunen finished the game with 22 saves.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team defeated Sweden, 5-1 in its opening game of the Under-18 Five Nations Tournament at USA Hockey Arena behind three point nights from Bode Wilde (Birmingham, Mich.), Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) and Jack Hughes (Orlando, Fla.).

Drew DeRidder (Fenton, Mich.) tallied 22 saves in the win while Sweden’s Jesper Eliasson recorded 28 saves.

TOURNAMENT DETAILS

Each team will compete in four games, with points awarded for wins (3), overtime wins (2) and overtime losses (1). The first-place team will be determined based on final point standings.

TOP NHL-ELIGIBLE TALENT

Of the 112 players in the tournament, 72 are rated by NHL's Central Scouting Bureau for the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Thirty-one players in the tournament are rated in the Top 40 of the North American or International skaters. 

Team USA has the most players on the Central Scouting list with 18. 

U18 FIVE NATIONS HISTORY

The Under-18 Five Nations and Four Nations tournaments are held twice a season. The U.S. has placed first in at least one of the two yearly events dating back to the 2007-08 season. In total, the U.S. has won the event 19 times since the U.S. began participating in 1997-1998. 

The U.S. has won both of the yearly tournaments five times (2003-04, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2016-17). 

NOVEMBER'S FIVE NATIONS

In the November U18 Five Nations tournament in Finland, the U18s went 1-0-2-1 (W-OTW-OTL, L) in the tournament to tie the Czech Republic for third place. Joel Farabee (Cicero, N.Y.) and Oliver Wahlstrom (Quincy, Mass.) led Team USA in the tournament with three points (1-2-3) in their three games.