Uninspired Team USA Drops to 0-2

Team USA came out flat in the first period of their 2-1 loss to Team Canada on Tuesday night and never recovered. On Thursday night, they came out flat again and dropped a 3-1 decision to Team Russia in St. Paul.

On Tuesday, the Americans were outshot 19-6 in the first period. The Russians managed 16 shots to the Americans’ four in the first period on Thursday.

U.S. coach Ron Wilson announced that roster changes would be made for the final round-robin game against Slovakia on Friday.

“For some reason we’re emotionally flat, and we’ve got to put in some people who will be really hungry and believe if they get the job done they’ll stay in the lineup,” Wilson said.

Team Russia took the first lead of the game at 12:20 of the second period on a goal by Danius Zubrus, who deflected a shot off the skate of U.S. captain Chris Chelios.

Keith Tkachuk tied the game for the Americans’ just 1:24 later but Alexei Kovalev put the Russians back on top just 5:05 into the third.

Viktor Kozlov added an insurance goal for Russia with 1:58 remaining.

“We’re really embarrassed the way we came out and played this hockey game,” Tkachuk said.

“They came out and just took it to us early. It’s very frustrating to see us play the way we did that whole game. It’s just not our hockey. We’ve got to turn this around.”

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On Wednesday, Canada defeated Slovakia, 5-1, while Sweden held off the Czech Republic for a 4-3 win. Thursday’s European matchup saw Finland continue their shutout streak with a 3-0 win over Germany.