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NAHL U.S. National Team

Kane's Overtime Goal Leads U.S. National Under-18 Team To Gold Medal Game At 2006 World Championship

April 20, 2006 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
U.S. National Team News Release


ÄNGELHOLM, Sweden -- Patrick Kane's (Buffalo, N.Y.) overtime goal gave the U.S. National Under-18 Team a thrilling 4-3 victory tonight over the Czech Republic in a semi-final match-up at the 2006 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship.

USA forward Ryan Flynn (Lino Lakes, Minn.) got the U.S. on the board when he banged home a loose puck in front of the Czech netminder Michal Neuvirth 4:22 into the game. Team USA struck again 12:42 later in the first frame when defenseman Jamie McBain (Faribault, Minn.) notched his second goal of the tournament when he one-timed an Erik Johnson (Bloomington, Minn.) rebound past Neuvirth to give the U.S. the 2-0 advantage. USA stretched the lead to three when netminder Joe Palmer (Yorkville, N.Y.) hit Rhett Rakhshani (Huntington Beach, Calif. ) at the far blue line with a pass and Rakhshani unleashed a bullet that beat Neuvirth blocker-side with 1:13 remaining in the period.

Early into the second period USA defenseman Chris Summers (Milan, Mich.) was whistled for a major charging penalty when he laid a open-ice body-check on a Czech forward. The Czech Republic scored 1:36 into the five-minute power-play when Bohdam Visnak put a blast from the point just under the cross bar to cut the U.S. lead to two at 3-1. The Czech Republic pressured the U.S. throughout the remainder of the period, but Palmer was up to the task, turning away top notch chances for the Czechs.

The Czech Republic made it a 3-2 game 3:38 into the third period when Martin Bartos snuck one past Palmer with the five on three advantage. The Czechs tied the game with 7:13 remaining in the game when Jiri Tlusty knocked in a loose puck in front of Palmer.

Both teams fought off a power-play in the early minutes of overtime. Palmer was tested early in the pipes for the U.S., stopping all four shots he faced. Kane cycled deep with Mike Carman (Apple Valley, Minn.) in the Czech zone, then Carman fired into a crowd in front of the net. The puck snuck out of the scrum and Kane was there to finish off the Czech Republic as he tricked the puck across the line to give Team USA a birth in the gold medal game.

"To earn a win this way speaks volumes about the charecter of our guys and their desire to represent USA Hockey and the United States," said USA Head Coach John Hynes. "We have worked all year to prepare for situations like this, but nothing compares to a world championship game."

Team USA will face Finland (4-0-1) on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. EDT). Finland topped Canada in overtime 3-2 earlier today to earn a birth in Saturday's match-up. Saturday's gold medal game can be heard live at www.usahockey.com.

NOTES: Patrick Kane leads the tournament in scoring with 12 points (7-5) ... Jamie McBain leads the tournament in points by a defenseman with 11 (2-9) ... USA forward Patrick Kane earned Player of the Game for Team USA, the fifth different player for Team USA in as many games during the tournament ... The IIHF World Under-18 Championship is a yearly event featuring the top 10 countries in the world. This year's field includes: Russia, Germany, Belarus, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Canada, and Norway ... Team USA is the reigning gold-medal winner at this event, defeating Canada in the gold medal game 5-1 in Plzen, Czech Republic last year.

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