U-18's wins opener

Press Release

NYKOPING, Sweden – Brandon Maxwell (Winter Park, Fla.) made 32 saves and Kyle Palmieri's (Montvale, N.J.) second-period goal proved to be the game-winner as the U.S. National Under-18 Team downed Sweden, 3-2, in its opening game of the 2009 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament.

Team USA opened the scoring when Jerry D'Amigo (Binghamton, N.Y.) took a feed from Kenny Ryan (Franklin Village, Mich.) near the goal line, attacked the net and put a shot past netminder Johan Gustafsson 4:23 into the game. John Henrion (Holden, Mass.) doubled the U.S. advantage after streaking into the Sweden zone and rifling a wrist shot over the outstretched glove of Gustafsson at 17:26. Maxwell stopped all seven shots he saw in the period.

Mattias Lindstrom's tally at 6:19 of the second stanza cut Sweden's deficit in half. Just 1:05 later, Kevin Lynch's (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) pass sprung Palmieri who broke in all alone and wired a shot into the top left corner of the net to make it 3-1.

Carl Klingberg brought Sweden within a goal at 9:42 of the final frame, but Maxwell stood tall the rest of the way as Team USA earned the 3-2 victory.

The U.S. National Under-18 Team returns to action tomorrow when it meets the Czech Republic at 7 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) at Rosvalla Arena.

NOTES: Team USA is unbeaten in international competition in 2008-09, posting a 4-1-0-0 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record ... Kyle Palmieri's goal was his fifth point (3-2) in international competition this season ... Brandon Maxwell improved to 2-1-0-0 in international competition and has posted a 2.59 goals-against average and .905 save percentage ... The U.S. National Under-18 Team has won the Five Nations Tournament four times (1999, 2005, 2007, 2008) ... The 2009 Under-18 Five Nations Tournament is the final international event for Team USA prior to the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship which runs from April 9-19 in Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period
SWE 0 1 1 -- 2
USA 1 2 0 -- 3

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, D'Amigo (Ryan, Shore), 4:23; 2, USA, Henrion (McCarthy, Rempel), 17:26. Penalties: SWE, Styrman (hooking), 2:21; SWE, Lindberg (kneeing), 7:29; USA, Rempel (interference), 10:42; SWE, Lindberg (holding), 14:37.

Second Period - Scoring: 3, SWE, Lindstrom (Bertilsson, Styrman), 6:19 (pp); 4, USA, Palmieri (Lynch), 7:27. Penalties: USA, Crowley (hooking), 6:10; USA, Henrion (high-sticking), 8:51; USA, Samuelsson (holding the stick), 9:14; SWE, Bertilsson (holding), 13:28; USA, Rempel (interference), 16:34.

Third Period - Scoring: 5, SWE, Klingberg (Lander), 9:42; Penalties: SWE, Ekman-Larsson (hooking), :17; USA, McCarthy (slashing), 6:09; SWE, Team (too many players), 8:26; USA, Palmieri (slashing), 9:17; SWE, Andersson (holding), 10:21; USA, Lynch (tripping), 10:59; USA, McCarthy (hooking), 17:11.

Shots by Period

1

2

3

Total
SWE 7 15 12 34
USA 11 7 14 31

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
SWE, Gustafsson, 58:23 11-9 7-6 14-14 31-28
USA, Maxwell, 60:00 7-7 15-14 12-11 34-32

Power Play: SWE 1-9; USA 0-7
Penalties: SWE 7-14; USA 9-18
Officials: Referees-N. Johansson, T. Suomela; Linesmen- Emil Wernstrom, Frederik Altberg Attendance: 845


(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)