Defending champion Slovakia tied the Czech Republic 3-3 Monday to win its qualification group at the World Hockey Championships while Canada beat Russia 5-2 to finish atop its group.
Ladislav Nagy of the Phoenix Coyotes salvaged the tie for the Slovaks with 6:06 left of the game before a crowd of 12,860 at Helsinki's Hartwall Areena.
Richard Lintner, a defenseman from the Pittsburgh Penguins, set up the goal with a brilliant cross-ice pass from his own end to Nagy, who skated in unchecked and beat Nashville Predators goalie Tomas Vokoun.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Slovakia, which has 16 NHL players on its star-studded roster, rallied from a 3-1 deficit to earn the point it needed to win the group and stay in Helsinki for the quarterfinals later this week.
"We're very happy to come back from 3-1 and get the tie," Slovakia head coach Frantisek Hossa said. "It shows the moral strength of this team. We're happy to stay in Helsinki."
The Czechs, who finished level on points with Slovakia in Group E but had inferior goal difference, will now travel to the coastal town of Turku, a two-hour bus ride northwest of the Finnish capital Helsinki, to play a yet undetermined opponent in Wednesday's quarterfinals.
The Czechs took a 3-1 lead in the second period behind goals by the Pittsburgh Penguins Martin Straka, who scored his second power-play goal of the game at 7:42, and David Vyborny of the Columbus Blue Jackets just 2:27 later.
The Slovaks' comeback started after the Czechs took two penalties late in the second period.
Pavol Demitra, the St. Louis Blues' leading scorer during the regular season and a late Slovak roster addition, cut the score to 3-2 with a wrister from the point through heavy traffic at 17:15.
"It was a crucial moment in the game when we took those penalties and let one in," Czech coach Slavomir Lener said. "We hope it's a wakeup call for the quarterfinals."
Straka put the Czechs ahead at 16:30 in the opening period. Lubomor Visnovsky of the Los Angeles Kings tied it 1-1 with another power-play goal early in the second session.
Ziggy Palffy, who led the Los Angeles Kings in scoring this season, set up Visnovsky's goal and increased his tournament scoring lead to seven goals and seven assists in seven games.
Jozef Stumpel of the Boston Bruins, the center on Slovakia's top line with Palffy and Richard Zednik as wingers, also got an assist on Visnovsky's goal. He's second in the scoring race with three goals and 10 assists.
In Turku, Canada's grind line scored four goals to lift the Olympic champions to a 5-2 win over Russia and first place in the Group F standings.
It marked the first time in three years the nations clashed in a major international tournament.
Coyotes Shane Doan and Detroit Red Wings Kirk Maltby -- on Canada's third line, or checking unit, and entrusted to neutralize Atlanta Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuk -- each scored twice, while Daniel Briere added the fifth.
Russia, which suffered a damaging 2-1 loss to minnow Latvia the previous day, no longer has its fate in its own hands and is now dependent on other teams in order to advance to the round of eight.
Old rivalry
Canada and Russia have forever evoked intense emotions in their matchups, particularly since Canada's legendary victory over the former Soviet Union in the first Summit Series in 1972.
"Anytime Canada plays Russia it's a special game. We're happy to be the ones celebrating tonight," said Coyotes goalie Sean Burke, who made 38 saves on the night. "There was a chippy element to it, which is not surprising. Obviously there are a lot of kids on their team who are post-cold war but there is still the knowledge.
"We played a team that was desperate for the win and we won. It says a lot. It ends the qualifying round on a great note."
Canada and Russia did not meet in either the 1998 or 2002 Olympics, and at the World Championships the teams have met only three times since 1996.
The last time was in 2001, when Canada dominated the Russians 5-1. Before that was at the 1997 worlds in Helsinki, Finland, where Canada also won 2-1 in a final round game on its way to winning the gold medal. In 1996 it was the Russians who won, 6-4.
Russia drew first blood at 4:46 into the match when Sergei Gusev's wrist shot from the side boards went off L.A. Kings Alexander Frolov's body past Burke on his stick side. It marked the first power play goal against Canada at the tournament.
But Canada soon drew even with the undisciplined Russians during another plower play 3:10 later. Doan one-timed a pass from Avalanche's Steven Reinprecht at the left corner through Egor Podomatski's five hole.
The Canadians doubled their lead at 7:58 in the second period in a beautiful play. Doan did all the dirty work this time, getting the puck out of the right corner and passing it to Maltby behind the net.
Team Canada went ahead 3-1 at 15:56 when Florida Panthers defenseman Jay Bouwmeester sent a powerful shot from the center of the blueline directly to Briere in front of the crease, with the Buffalo Sabres attacker slamming it into the net.
Maltby made it 4-1 sending it through Podomatski's five hole again, while Doan scored his second to go 5-1 deflecting a shot from Bouwmeester.
Denis Arkhipov narrowed the gap to 5-2 but it was too little, too late for Russia.
Canada will play either host Finland or Germany in the quarterfinals. The team will stay in Turku as long as Finland gets a point from Germany on Wednesday. Otherwise, Canada will travel to Helsinki late Wednesday night before the quarters.
Russia must hope that Switzerland loses to Sweden in its last qualifying round match.
The US ended its worst showing at the worlds since 1998 with an 8-1 rout of Japan in the relegation-round finale Monday.
Belarus beat Slovenia 4-3 to finish second in the relegation group. Slovenia was third and Japan fourth.
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