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Czechs beat US to secure top spot

The Czech Republic, last year's runners-up, secured the top spot in the ice hockey world championship preliminary Group B following a tight 4-3 win over the US on Tuesday.

In the opening period defender Petr Caslava scored the only goal putting the Czechs 1-0 up on powerplay.

Nashville Predators rear guard Ryan Suter levelled 4:42 into the second also on powerplay but Zbynek Irgl restored the Czech Republic lead 10 minutes later.

Boston Bruins' forward Petr Tenkrat made it 3-1 for Czechs 7:51 into the third period but Chad Larose and Andrew Hutchinson both scored to level at 3-3 with less than five minutes remaining.

However, Jaroslav Bednar netted the Czech Republic winning goal with 1:08 remaining before the final horn. The US team substituted their goalie for the sixth field player but to no avail as Czechs kept their lead through.

Belarus won the right to continue performance in the qualifying round of the event beating 5-2 Austria in the other Group B match earlier on Tuesday.

Andrei Glebov and Dmitry Dudik lifted Belarus 2-0 up but Andre Lakos replied with a couple of powerplay goals to level the scores at 2-2 early in the second period.

But Alexei Ugarov and Oleg Antonenko restored Belarus's two-goal advantage scoring both on powerplay before the second break. Aleksandr Kulakov added his goal at 54:34 to secure Belarus' win, sending Austria to the relegation round.

Denmark also clinched a place in the qualifying round beating Ukraine 4-3 in their Group D showdown.

Kirill Starkov, Rasmus Pander and Kim Staal scored for Denmark, while Oleksandr Materukhin and Oleksandr Matviichuk were on target for Ukraine before the first intermission.

Halfway into the secomd perod Staal increased Denmark's lead scoring his second of the match on powerplay.

Roman Salnikov restored Ukraine's chances to try and save the day scoring with 7:37 remaining but to no avail as Denmark managed to keep their narrow lead through.

The hosts Russia also won their preliminary group with a perfect record beating Finland 5-4 in their last Group D clash.

Russia started confidently and took a 1-0 lead through Nikolai Kulemin, who beat Fredrik Norrena between his pads with a mid-range wrist shot 6:38 into the match.

The Finns replied positively pinning the hosts back and levelled through Tuomo Ruutu, who redirected Tuukka Mantyla's blue-line shot into the net on powerplay at 13:11.

But Danis Zaripov restored Russia's lead with 2:20 before the first break firing into an unguarded net from Alexei Morozov's pass when Finland's Niko Kapanen was sinbinned.

In the second the hosts increased their advantage through Pittsburgh Penguins' blueliner Sergei Gonchar and Kazan forward Alexei Morozov who added one apiece on powerplay.

Forward Jukka Hentunen reduced the arrears scoring Finland's second goal from close range 3:37 into the third period.

The Finns fresh from their success poured in attack and Dallas Stars striker Jere Lehtinen netted their third goal sweeping the puck into an unguarded net, when the Russians were shorthanded.

Russia's skipper Petr Schastlivy scored his team's fifth before Minnesota Wild defender Petteri Nummelin reduced the hosts' lead again with 5:51 remaining.
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