The U.S. men's ice hockey team has tied Finland, 4-4, while Russia tied Switzerland, 3-3 in the qualification round of the World Ice Hockey championships in Austria.
| Mark Parrish of Team USA celebrates his goal against Finland (AP Photo) |
Mark Parrish scored a fluke goal with 40 seconds left in the game against Finland to give the Americans the draw in Innsbruck.
The U.S. team had blown a 3-1 lead in the third period, but got the tying goal when the puck bounced off Parrish's skate and into the Finnish net.
Meanwhile in Vienna, Alexei Kovalev's late goal salvaged a draw for Russia against Switzerland. The Swiss had a 3-2 edge after a power-play goal in the second period.
The top four teams in each group after the qualification round advance to the quarterfinals. In the relegation round, Slovenia rallied from three goals down to beat Denmark, 4-3 and host country Austria tied Germany, 2-2. The top two teams in the relegation round will stay in the championships next year, but the last two teams will be demoted.
Some information for this report provided by AP