Helsinki, Finland – Paul Stastny scored twice and added a pair of assists to lift the United States to an 8-3 rout of Russia in the quarterfinals of the 2013 World Hockey Championship.
Craig Smith assisted on five of the eight U.S. goals and John Gibson made 31 saves. The Americans will meet Switzerland in Saturday's semifinals, as the Swiss remained unbeaten in this year's tournament with a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic on Thursday.
T.J. Oshie, Nate Thompson, Alex Galchenyuk, Ryan Carter, Jacob Trouba and David Moss also scored for the United States, which never trailed and avenged a loss to Russia during round-robin play.
Alex Ovechkin joined the Russian team after his Washington Capitals were beaten in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and notched a goal and an assist. The two points were as many as he scored in the seven-game playoff loss to the New York Rangers.
Alexander Svitov and Alexander Perezhogin also scored for Russia, which won last year's world title. Ilya Bryzgalov started in net for the Russians and was yanked after allowing four goals on 20 shots. Semyon Varlamov was no better, yielding four goals on just 11 shots in nearly 22 minutes.
Stastny and Oshie scored just 50 seconds apart midway through the first period to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead and Svitov answered for Russia with 4 1/2 minutes left in the opening stanza. Thompson and Galchenyuk added second-period goals for the Americans before Ovechkin found the net just 1:33 into the third to pull the Russians within 4-2.
After Stephen Gionta went off for roughing just 31 seconds later to give the Russians a power play, Carter picked up his New Jersey Devils teammate by scoring a short-handed goal to extend the Americans' lead.
Perezhogin again pulled Russia within two when he converted on the same power play, but the Americans took advantage of a Russian penalty when Trouba scored on a power play to make it 6-3. Moss and Stastny then scored 11 seconds apart midway through the third to seal it.
Finland advanced to the other semifinal with a 4-3 victory over Slovakia. The Finns will play Sweden, which edged Canada by a 3-2 score in a shootout.
Nicklas Danielsson scored two power-play goals in the third period to put the Swedes up 2-1 before Claude Giroux answered for Canada. Fredrik Pettersson then beat Canadians goalie Mike Smith on a slap shot in the fourth round of the shootout.
A scary incident occurred late in the first period when Canada captain Eric Staal was injured in a knee-on-knee collision with Sweden's Alexander Edler.
Edler was assessed a five-minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct. Steven Stamkos scored for Canada on the subsequent power play in the early moments of the second period.
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