April 28, 2004 Advertise Subscribe Site Map Front Page ... Wash. Golf Monthly U.S. reaches world hockey qualifying round Ostrava, , Apr. 28 (UPI) The United States clinched a spot in the qualifying round of the world hockey championships Wednesday with a 7-1 victory over Ukraine. The U.S. team now has a 1-1-1 record, good for second place in Group B, a point behind Finland. The Americans failed to reach the qualifying round in last year's competition. Blake Sloan, a defenseman with the Dallas Stars, scored two goals in the win over Ukraine (0-3). Sloan scored in the first and second periods. In between, the U.S. got power play goals from Ryan Malone of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Richard Park of the Minnesota Wild and Paul Mara of the Phoenix Coyotes. Keith Ballard of the University of Minnesota and Mike Grier of the Buffalo Sabres scored the other two goals for the Americans. "Our power play was the best it's been in three games," said U.S. Coach Peter Laviolette of the Carolina Hurricanes. Ukraine's Roman Salnikov averted a shutout by scoring with 38 seconds remaining in the game. | |
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