SOCHI, February 15. /ITAR-TASS/. US hockey team has won in match against Russian squad after bullit shootout. The main time of the match ended 2:2 and the overtime did not change the situation.
American TJ O’Shea delivered the fourth bullit puck and brought victory to his national hockey squad.
USA – Russia - 3:2 B (0:0, 1:1, 1:1, 0:0, 1:0).
0-1. Datsyuk (Markov, Radulov), 29:15.
1-1. Fowler (van Riemsdyk, Kessel), 36:34 (majority).
2-1. Pavelski (Kane, Shattenkirk), 49,27 (majority).
2-2. Datsyuk (Markov, Ovechkin), 52:44 (majority).
3-2. O’Shea – last bullit.
The U.S. has five points in Group A, Russia four, Slovenia three, and Slovakia none. In the third round on Sunday, February 16, Russia will face Slovakia.
President Vladimir Putin watched the game at Sochi’s Bolshoy Ice Dome.
On Friday, while visiting Team USA House, Putin said he might attend the Saturday game. “Naturally, we are going to support our athletes. However, we know how many of them play for the NHL. Let me assure you that we have many fans who love and know American ice-hockey players. Anyway, all of us are going to enjoy the game,” Putin said. Asked whether he could be seen at the stadium on Saturday, the president replied, “Perhaps, I will come.”
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Russian ice hockey legend Vyacheslav Fetisov and presidential chief of staff Sergei Ivanov also attended the event.
Historically, the Americans have been a difficult opponent for Russian ice-hockey players at Olympic Games. In Soviet days, the Americans won gold twice. This time, Russia and the U.S. faced each other in a preliminary round, and although no one can predict the outcome, Putin made it clear he hoped to see Russia play against Canada in the final.
He thanked all fans, Russian and foreign, for the atmosphere they have created at the Sochi Olympics.
“To all the fans from around the world, both Russian and representatives of foreign countries, who make one big family of sport lovers here, I would like to say ‘thank you’, in your presence,” Putin said at a meeting with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
He thanked the fans for creating a unique atmosphere of friendship at the Games and said he had heard only positive comments about volunteers.
Earlier in the day, before the ice hockey match, Putin took a stroll with Bach along one of Sochi’s embankments, and then joined Rogge, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak and Krasnodar Territory Governor Alexander Tkachev in a small seaside cafe. He talked with each and all of them for a while, including in German, to discuss, among other things, the unusually warm weather in Sochi, and noted that forecasts promised colder weather in the coming days.
Bach admired the Sochi Olympics and commended their excellent organization.
“You have probably heard everyone you met say this — the Games are organized excellently,” he said.
Bach said the athletes liked the fact that sport facilities were close to the Olympic Village and said everything was organized so well that there was no need to hold daily coordinating meetings.
“There are no problems and there is nothing to discuss,” he added.
The IOC president noted a record number of TV viewers watching the Games in more than 200 countries on five continents, and lauded volunteers for their efforts, which he said was one of the advantages of the Sochi Olympics.
Bach expressed confidence that the next Olympic week would be just as successful as the two previous ones.
