In the course of the spectacular match, where the both teams demonstrated an outstanding performance, the Russian team was constantly behind the US team 0:2, 2:3, 3:4. On the 8th minute of the third quarter Russia's Dmitry Pestunov received the pass from Alexander Ovechkin and equaled the score 4:4.
The mistake of the Russian defenders enabled the Americans to organize a two on one attack, which ended up with Dan Fritsche scoring a winning goal.
The goals on the part of the Russian team were scored by Yakov Rylov and Ovechkin from the Moscow Dinamo and Sergei Shirokov, who scored a penalty shot. Russia's goalie Anton Khudobin repulsed 27 out of 32 attempted shots.
The results of the other games of the first day of the championship are as follows: the Canadian team creamed the Slovaks 7:3 (the Canadian trio of Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron and Corey Perry scored the first four goals), the Czechs defeated the team from Belarus 7:2 and the Finnish team easily won over the Germans 4:1.
The second game of the championship the Russians will play against the Czechs on December 27 in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.
Last championship in Finland the Russian team performed unsuccessfully and finished in the fifth place. The Russian team won the championships two times in a row in 2001 and 2002.
