Russia rallies to beat US 5-2 at pre-Olympic Deutschland Cup
AUGSBURG, Germany (AP) With the help of a potent power play, Russia came back from a two-goal deficit to beat the United States 5-2 on Saturday night at the Deutschland Cup.
First-liners Mark Arcobello and Chad Kolarik scored first-period goals for the U.S., which fell to 0-2-0 at the pre-Olympic tuneup tournament after Russia scored three power-play goals in the second. Kolarik also assisted on Arcobello's power-play goal that came after Russian captain Evgeny Ketov was ejected for boarding.
''I liked how we played overall,'' U.S. coach Tony Granato said. ''We certainly had our chances, and in the end, they capitalized on their power plays and that was really the difference in the game.''
Albert Yarullin, Mikhail Naumenkov, Maxim Karpov and Ilya Mikheyev scored before Viktor Tikhonov added an empty-netter for Russia, which is likely to be the favorite at the 2018 Winter Olympics without NHL players. The Russian roster at the Deutschland Cup does not include some former NHL stars playing in the Kontinental Hockey League, most notably forwards Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk and longtime Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov.
The U.S. team is made up largely of professionals playing in Europe, though college players like Boston University's Jordan Greenway and the University of Denver's Troy Terry are good bets to play at the Olympics.
On Saturday, the U.S. outshot Russia 31-25 as Russian goaltender Alexander Yeryomenko made 29 saves to pick up the victory. The U.S. also outshot Slovakia in its opener, but lost 2-1 when veteran goalie Jan Laco made 35 saves.
American goaltender Brandon Maxwell played the entire game against and stopped 20 shots. The U.S. faces host Germany in its final Deutschland Cup game Sunday.
