Oilers Taylor Chorney (C) and Ryan Potulny (R) surge into the offensive zone during USA's battle vs. Kazakhstan at the World Championship in Germany on May 15, 2010. USA won the game 10-0. (Photo by Jukka Rautio / HHOF-IIHF Images)

Related Items: FINAL PRELIMINARY ROUND STANDINGS USA vs Kazakhstan Box Score USA vs Photo Gallery GM Steve Tambellini on Eberle, Dubnyk & more Oilers reign as Canada, Sweden coast to wins Dubnyk to join Canada in Germany Team Stats: CANADA | SWEDEN | USA

The tournament didn't start they way they'd hoped, but Oilers Ryan Potulny and Taylor Chorney finally got in the win column with Team USA Saturday.

After dropping their first three games of the tournament to slip into the relegation round, the Americans played with a renewed focus and trounced Kazakhstan 10-0.

TJ Oshie, Kyle Okposo and Matt Gilroy dominated the first period to give USA a 4-0 lead after 20 minutes.

In the middle frame, Nick Foligno made it 5-0 before Potulny fired home his first World Championship goal at 16:34. Keith Yandle and Brandon Dubinsky earned assists on the powerplay marker.

"We kind of went from down low to up high and back to the net," Potulny recalled after the game. "It went off my foot and into the net but there was no kicking motion, so after a review they allowed it."

Only 12 seconds later, the Oiler added an assist by setting up Gilroy for his third goal of the game. Potulny also finished with five shots to bring his four-game total to 13, tied with Oshie for most on the team.

On the blue line, defenceman Chorney had an equally solid game game, finishing +3 and with one shot on goal.

Although the win was a confident one, Potulny is disappointed in the way the tournament has gone so far.

"It's tough after those first three games," he said. "I don't think we saw ourselves in this position. We didn't play to our caliber. We worked hard but we didn't do enough offensively."

The Americans are in a precarious position: Not only are they incapable of winning a medal this year, if they finish in the bottom two of the relegation round, they will be booted from the world's top tournament next year.

It's an unacceptable situation, Potulny said.

"We talked about it before the game today and said this is important for us and for USA Hockey to play in the tournament next year. We don't want to be the team that gets the U.S. out of the tournament. We've got to win these next games."

USA's next test is Sunday, May 16 vs. France. The puck drops for that game at 4:15am MT (yikes). The team then enjoys a day off in Cologne before closing the relegation round vs. Italy on Tuesday, May 18.

Potulny is looking forward to touring more of the historic German city, especially the Cologne Cathedral. 

"On Monday, I'm going to try to check it out with my parents. It's fun to take in some of this experience over here. It's a definitely a different culture and there's lots of cool stuff to see."

The Minnesota native is also hoping to run into fellow Oilers Jordan Eberle and Devan Dubnyk, who were added to Canada's roster yesterday.

"It's pretty sweet to get some Oilers over here," he said.

UP NEXT

Eight hours and 250km removed from USA's game vs. France, the other Oilers representatives will battle in Mannheim Sunday. In the second game of the qualifying round, Eberle and Dubnyk will join Team Canada as they face off against prospects Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Linus Omark and the rest of Team Sweden. The puck drops at 12:15pm MT.  

Visit edmontonoilers.com regularly throughout the two-week tournament for updates on the Oilers in Germany.

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QUALIFICATION ROUND SCHEDULE & RESULTS
(all times mountain)

Friday, May 14:

Canada 12 - Norway 1
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Sweden 4 - Latvia 2
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Sunday, May 16:

Canada vs. Sweden - 12:15 p.m.
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Tuesday, May 18:

Canada vs. Czech Republic - 8:15 a.m.
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Sweden vs. Switzerland - 12:15 p.m.
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos 

======END OF QUALIFICATION ROUND======

RELEGATION ROUND SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Saturday, May 15:

USA 10 - Kazakhstan 1
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Sunday, May 16:

USA vs. France - 4:15 a.m.
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Tuesday, May 18:

USA vs. Italy - 4:15 a.m.
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

======END OF RELEGATION ROUND======

PRELIMINARY ROUND SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Friday, May 7:

Germany 2 - USA 1 OT
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Saturday, May 8:

Canada 5 - Italy 1
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos  

Sunday, May 9:

Sweden 5 vs. Norway 2
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Monday, May 10:

Denmark 2 - USA 1 OT
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Canada 6 - Latvia 1
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos 

Tuesday, May 11:

Sweden 3 - France 2
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Wednesday, May 12:

Finland 3 - USA 2
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos

Switzerland 4 - Canada 1
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos 

Thursday, May 13:

Czech Republic 2 - Sweden 1
Gamesheet | Recap | Photos 

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MORE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS NEWS & MULTIMEDIA

• May 15: Potulny, Chorney in the win column with USA
• May 14: Oilers reign as Canada, Sweden coast to wins
• May 14: Dubnyk answers call from Team Canada
• May 13: Paajarvi scores lone goal for Swedes
• May 13: Welcome to Worlds: Eberle to play Friday
• May 12: Weird Wednesday: USA, Canada upset by underdogs
  
• May 11: Omark tallies two in win over France
  
• May 10: USA upset again, this time by Danes
• May 9: Solid debut for Paajarvi at Worlds
  
• May 7: Germany upsets USA in Worlds opener
  
• May 7: Worlds start today
  
• April 29: Eberle "on" this off-season
• April 27: From Minnesota to Mannheim: Chorney & Potulny
• April 16: Eberle gets a shot at World Championships roster spot
• April 15: Potulny & Chorney named to Team USA
• Read more on the World Championships