USA faces big test this afternoon against Russia in World Champnships

After an easy 6-2 win over France in the opening game of the qualifying round, the USA sits in second place in Group E.  Here are the current standings:

Rank Team GP W OTW OTL L PTS GDF   GF:GA
1          RUS  3    2    1       0     0   8       +8   17 : 9
2          USA   3    2    0       1     0   7       +5   15 : 10
3          LAT    4    1    2       0     1   7       +6   14 : 8
4          SWE  3    0    1       2     0   4       -1    13 : 14
5          SUI    3     1   0        1     1  4       -2       4 : 6
6          FRA   4    0    0        0    4   0       -16     5 : 21

A tough game today against first place Russia, who beat Sweden in OT on Thursday, 6-5. The game starts at 1:15p CDT. You can catch it live on IIHF.com.