Team Canada remains unbeaten

Team Canada's Rick Nash, left, scores on Team USA goaltender Rick DiPietro during second-period action at the IIHF World Hockey Championship in Innsbruck, Austria on Thursday. It was Nash's second goal of the period. Canada defeated the US 3-1. PHOTO: AP

Rick Nash scored two goals and Canada beat the US 3-1 Thursday for its third straight win at the ice hockey World Championship.

Joe Thornton also scored for Canada, the two-time defending champion. Mike Knuble scored for the US.

Canada, 3-0 in the preliminaries, will play 2003 and 2004 runner-up Sweden next in the qualification round today. The Americans were to play Finland on Friday.

Needing only a tie to win the group on superior goal difference, Canada took the lead just 51 seconds into the second period after a great individual effort by Nash.

Trying a wraparound, the puck bounced high but Nash knocked it down with his left glove, then skated backwards away from the net before beating goalie Rick DiPietro with a low shot.

Later, Nash came close to scoring again, tipping the puck just left when all alone in front of the goal.

The US tied it 1-1 at 5:16 when Knuble stole the puck from a Canadian near the offensive blue line, skated in and whipped it past goalie Martin Brodeur's legs.

It was the third goal for Knuble, who played in Sweden during the lockout this season, and he is tied with Mark Parrish for most goals on the US team.

Nash scored his second, skating all alone toward the US goal after taking a long pass at 11:29 and roofing the puck past DiPietro with US defenseman Jordan Leopold unable to stop him from behind.

Thornton made it 3-1 about twelve minutes into the third period with a power-play goal.

The Americans outshot Canada 14-4 in the opening period, but went 0-for-3 on the power play. Brodeur was seldom tested as the Canadians killed the penalties well. During the last man-advantage, Brodeur made a nice double-save when the Americans applied pressure. Canada failed to capitalize on its only power play during the first 20 minutes.

Earlier, Latvia beat newcomer Slovenia 3-1 for its first win, clinching a berth in the qualification round.

Martins Cipulis and Atvars Tribuncovs scored in the first two periods for Latvia, and Girts Ankipans added an empty-netter with 25 seconds left of the game at Olympiahalle.

In Vienna, a second-period goal by Ales Hemsky was enough to lift the Czech Republic past Kazakhstan for its third straight win and first place in its group

The Czechs, who played without injured superstar Jaromir Jagr, had to battle hard to defeat newly promoted Kazakhstan.

Slovenia will play in the relegation round against Denmark, host nation Austria and Germany.