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Lightning stars lead their teams at world tourney

Kubina, Lecavalier, Richards and Modin contribute for their countries.

[AP photo] The Lightning's Pavel Kubina, who had 2 goals for the Czech Republic, attacks Canada's Jeff Friesen.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 9, 2001

Pavel Kubina had a feeling something good was going to happen Tuesday in the Czech Republic's game against Canada at the World Hockey Championships, and he was right.

The Lightning defenseman scored twice and had an assist in a 4-2 victory at Hanover, Germany, that gave the Czech Republic the top seed in Thursday's quarterfinals.

"When you're playing defense, it's great to score sometimes," Kubina said. "I had a lot of chances in the last few games, and I told myself early on that it's time to score some goals."

Kubina's effort was the highlight in a noteworthy day for the Lightning. Vinny Lecavalier had a goal for Canada, with an assist from Brad Richards, and Fredrik Modin scored his first goal of the tournament in Sweden's 5-4 loss to Finland.

The Czech Republic, the two-time defending champion, faces Slovakia at 10 a.m. Thursday at Hanover. Canada plays the United States at 2 p.m.

Finland plays Germany, which lost to Russia 3-1, at 10 a.m. at Cologne. Russia faces Sweden at 2 p.m.

Kubina, who has two goals and two assists and is plus-7, was a thorn in Canada's side. Forty-three seconds after Lecavalier gave Canada a 1-0 first-period lead, Kubina's blast from the top of the faceoff circle beat goaltender Fred Brathwaite to tie the score.

The Czech Republic took a 2-1 lead 10:18 into the second period on Kubina's backhander under the crossbar. Kubina, who played for the Czech Republic's 1999 gold-medal team, assisted on Robert Reichel's goal at 16:13 for a 3-1 lead.

"You'd rather lose now than in the medal round," Lecavalier said. "Tonight we lost, but we're keeping our heads up and staying positive."

The United States warmed up for the quarterfinals by beating Slovakia 3-1 with two goals off rebounds late in the game. The United States and Slovakia already had clinched quarterfinal berths.

David Tanabe of the Carolina Hurricanes broke a 1-1 tie at 12:09 of the third period, scoring after Slovakian goalie Jan Lasak didn't control the rebound from Tim Connolly's shot. The Montreal Canadiens' Jim Campbell knocked in a rebound about 4 1/2 minutes later to seal the U.S. victory.

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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