Johan Davidsson scored two goals and added two assists on Saturday as defending world and Olympic champion Sweden routed Italy 7-1 in its first game at the Hockey World Championship.
After a slow start, Sweden took control in the second period with four goals in six minutes to take a 6-1 lead in the Group A game.
In Mytischi, St. Louis Blues forward Jamal Mayers scored the winning goal as Canada beat Germany 3-2 in its first game of the tournament.
PHOTO: AP
Playing without the NHL stars that led the team to the title last year, Sweden looked shaky early on.
Goaltender Johan Backlund gave up a generous rebound that Giorgio de Bettin fired in from a sharp angle at 3:06 of the first period to give Italy a surprise 1-0 lead.
Sweden then had a 5-on-3 power play halfway through the period but couldn't capitalize.
However, Italy's lead didn't last long.
Davidsson got the Olympic gold medalists on the scoreboard with a superb individual effort at 15:31 in the first period.
After picking up a loose puck at his own end, Davidsson skated passed several defenders and rifled a low shot past Italy goaltender Andrea Carpano to tie the game.
"We were a bit off our game at first," Davidsson said. "But we knew that if we just kept playing our system we would be OK. It was good that we went into the first break up 2-1 instead of down 1-0."
Playing with a man advantage, Fredrik Emvall deflected a shot from the point by Dick Tarnstrom at 17:19 to give Sweden a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
The second period belonged to Sweden.
Tony Martensson started the four-goal onslaught when he picked up a rebound at the side of the net and tucked the puck past Carpano.
Fredrik Bremberg gave Sweden a 4-1 lead, taking a perfect pass from Davidsson and scoring on a slapshot from the edge of the faceoff circle. Davidsson scored his second goal of the night at 8:43 as Sweden went up 5-1.
Jonathan Hedstrom completed the scoring in the second period with a goal at 9:53 on a two-man breakaway.
Alex Steen of the Toronto Maple Leafs is the only NHL player currently on Sweden's roster.
Without the likes of Henrik Zetterberg, Michael Nylander and Niklas Kronwall, who all played on last year's world championship team, Sweden will need players like Davidsson, Emvall and young star Nicklas Backstrom to step forward.
Daviddson also assisted on Per Hallberg's goal in the third.
Also in Group A, Sandy Jeannin scored the winning goal in the last minute of the second period to lift Switzerland to a 2-1 win over Latvia.
Canada took advantage of some sloppy play by Germany goaltender Dimitri Kotschnew to score the winning goal.
Nick Schultz of the Minnesota Wild blew a good chance in the fifth minute of the final period when he opted for a forehand shot rather than a backhand and missed the open goal.
But when Kotschnew muffed the puck behind his own net, Jason Chimera stole the puck from the goalie and passed it out front to Mayers, who scored into the wide-open net at 11:42.
"I don't think he'd seen me come up behind him," Chimera said. "I think I caught him off guard. I was at the right place at the right time."
Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber was ejected just 1:19 into the Group C game for elbowing forward Yannic Seidenberg in the chin.
Initially, there was no call, but as Seidenberg struggled to get up, pitching over repeatedly, Weber was slapped with a five-minute major and game misconduct. Seidenberg suffered a suspected concussion.
Also in Group C, Montreal Canadiens goalkeeper Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves to lead Slovakia to a 3-0 shutout of Norway.
Marek Uram opened the scoring 12 minutes into the first period, with Boston Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara doubling the team's advantage just 51 seconds later.
The Norwegians became visibly frustrated in the second period, clocking 10 minutes in the penalty box as the Slovaks kept their spotless record intact.
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