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Team USA, Russia cruise in U17 Four Nations Cup openers

By USAHockeyNTDP.com, 12/11/18, 6:00PM EST

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Teams return to action Wednesday before head-to-head matchup Friday


Photo by Michael Caples

PLYMOUTH, Mich. — Team USA and Team Russia registered 7-2 and 9-1 victories, respectively, on Day 1 of the 2018 Under-17 Four Nations Cup on Tuesday at USA Hockey Arena to set up an enticing preview of Friday's head-to-head matchup.

“I am proud of the overall effort tonight,” said U.S. National Under-17 Team head coach Seth Appert. “We received strong contributions from each position with 15 different players represented on the scoresheet and great goaltending. We certainly know we will have to continue to improve to be ready for Switzerland tomorrow.”

USA 7, SLOVAKIA 2

Sixteen players found the scoresheet as the U.S. National Under-17 Team secured a 7-2 victory over Slovakia in its opening game of the 2018 Under-17 Four Nations Cup on Tuesday at USA Hockey Arena.

Jake Sanderson (Whitefish, Mont.) paced Team USA with three points, while Chase Yoder (Fairview, Texas) added a pair of goals to help the U17s build an early lead.

Yoder, whose two tallies came within a span of eight minutes to extend Team USA's lead to 3-0, scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season across all competitions.

After Slovakia's Oleksiy Myklukha cut into Team USA's three-goal lead with a short-handed tally, Matthew Beniers (Hingham, Mass.) responded for the U17s when he found the back of the net on the power play.

Hunter Strand (Anchorage, Ala.), Ty Smilanic (Elizabeth, Colo.), Daniyal Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Tyler Kleven (Fargo, N.D.) also scored for Team USA.

The offensive display helped back Drew Commesso's (Norwell, Mass.) strong start in net. Commesso stopped 28 of 30 shots to earn the win.

Team USA returns to the ice against Switzerland at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday (Dec. 12) at USA Hockey Arena.

Slovakia will face Russia on Wednesday in its second game of the Under-17 Four Nations Cup. Puck drop is set for 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday at USA Hockey Arena.

NOTES: Team USA went 2-for-6 on the power play. Slovakia went 1-for-6 on the power play. Team USA outshot Slovakia by a 36-30 margin. Chase Yoder earned Player of the Game honors for Team USA. Martin Chromiak earned Player of the Game honors for Slovakia.

RUSSIA 9, SWITZERLAND 1

Russia tallied multiple goals in all three periods to power past Switzerland by a 9-1 final Tuesday afternoon in its opening game of the 2018 Under-17 Four Nations Cup at USA Hockey Arena.

Bogan Trineev capitalized on an opportunity 1 minute, 8 eight seconds into the opening period to mark the first goal of the tournament.

Russia doubled its lead when Iliya Rychkov found the back of the net on an odd-man rush at the 6:54 mark of the first. Rychkov's goal marked the first of his four points.

Switzerland came up empty on a pair of second-period power play opportunities before Russia's Daniil Khristanov extended the advantage to 3-0.

After Jérémie Bärtschi put Switzerland on the board with  redirect to cut the deficit to 3-1, Russia's Vasili Ponomaryov responded just 15 seconds later to restore the three-goal lead.

Dmitri Zugan scored twice for Team Russia in a span of 2:23 to put the game out of reach.

Ivan Didkovski, Shakir Mukhamadullin and Trineev added third-period goals for Russia.

Russia will return to action against Slovakia on Wednesday. Puck drop is set for 3:30 p.m. ET at USA Hockey Arena.

Switzerland will take on Team USA at 7 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Tournament packages and daily ticket passes are still on sale.  A weekend-only pass, which includes a parking voucher, is also available for the games Friday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15 for $25.

To purchase tickets, or for more information, visit USAHockeyNTDP.com/4NationsTix or call the USA Hockey Arena box office at 734.453.8400.

NOTES: Team Russia went 1-for-3 on the power play. Team Switzerland went 0-for-6 on the power play. Russia outshot Switzerland by a 28-22 margin. Ivan Didkovsky earned Player of the Game honors for Team Russia. Mike Zaugg earned Player of the Game honors for Team Switzerland.

Team rosters, broadcast details and other information can be found on the tournament website, found here ... All of the tournament action will be covered by the USA Hockey NTDP and USA Hockey Arena social media accounts (@USAHockeyNTDP and @USAHockeyArena) ... Get involved with the conversation by using the tournament hashtag #4NationsU17.

Stats & Standings

Team Rosters

Sights & Sounds

2018 Four Nations Cup Schedule

DATE HOME AWAY TIMES/RESULTS TICKETS STREAMING STATS
Tue, Dec. 11 Russia Switzerland RUS 9, SUI 1 Buy Tickets Watch Live Live Stats
Tue, Dec. 11 USA Slovakia USA 7, SVK 2 Buy Tickets Watch Live Live Stats
Wed, Dec. 12 Slovakia Russia RUS 6, SVK 1 Buy Tickets Watch Live Live Stats
Wed, Dec. 12 USA Switzerland USA 3, SUI 1 Buy Tickets Watch Live Live Stats
Fri, Dec. 14 Switzerland Slovakia SUI 3, SVK 1 Buy Tickets Watch Live Live Stats
Fri, Dec. 14 USA Russia USA 4, RUS 2 Buy Tickets Watch Live Live Stats
Sat., Dec. 15 Switzerland Slovakia (3rd Place Game) SVK 4, SUI 2 Buy Tickets Watch Live Live Stats
Sat., Dec. 15 USA Russia (1st Place Game) RUS 3, USA 2 (OT) Buy Tickets Watch Live Live Stats

2018 Four Nations Cup News

Photo by Rena Laverty
Photo by Brett Blum