NEW YORK, 9 September 2004 — Keith Tkachuk grabbed four goals and an assist to power the United States to a 5-3 victory over Russia in their World Cup quarterfinal at St. Paul, Minnesota Tuesday. Tkachuk scored twice in the third period as the Americans avenged a 3-1 defeat by the Russians in the round-robin stage to set up a semifinal against Finland at St. Paul tomorrow. The Americans lost their first two games of the tournament and were criticized for being too old and slow. They looked neither against the Russians. Tkachuk now has 10 goals in 11 World Cup games.
Mike Modano had four assists for the Americans, playing on a line with Tkachuk. Bill Guerin and Brian Rafalski each added two assists.
“The round-robin is the round-robin, it is what it is,” Modano said. “We just wanted to get better as the tournament goes on and that’s what we’re doing.”
Tkachuk opened the scoring at 11:20 of the first period before doubling the lead 1:56 into the second to the delight of the pro-American crowd of 17,218 at the home of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.
Dimitri Afanasenkov put the Russians on the board at 7:14 of the second, beating netminder Robert Esche, and Dainius Zubrus leveled 36 seconds into the third period.
Scott Gomez gave the US a 3-2 advantage at 4:25 of the third period before Tkachuk completed his hat trick 22 seconds later.
Ilya Kovalchuk replied for the Russians at 11:04 on a four-minute powerplay and then pressed for the equalizer. But Esche made several good saves before Tkachuk sealed the win with an empty-net marker with 55 seconds left.
Alex Kovalev had an assist and was selected as Russia’s player of the game. But, with goalie Ilya Bryzgalov having an average night, the Russians could not generate enough offence, each team firing 21 shots.
Players, Team Owners Facing
Long Contract Talks
Meanwhile, National Hockey League team owners and players appear poised to enter long contract negotiations today in a last-ditch bid to start the season on schedule.
With the existing Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) set to expire at midnight Sept. 14, the clock is ticking down on NHL owners and the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) to reach a new labor deal. If no new agreement is in place by Sept. 15, owners have indicated they will lock out the players until their demands are met.
