Evgeni Malkin scored the winning goal and assisted on another as Russia remained undefeated with a 4-2 win over defending champion Sweden at the Ice Hockey World Championship on Monday.
Canada also downed the US 6-3.
In the quarter-finals, Russia will face the Czech Republic, Sweden will play Slovakia, unbeaten Canada meets Switzerland and the US take on Finland.
PHOTO: AP
Malkin's slap shot from the high slot at 9:51 of the third period beat Sweden goalie Erik Ersberg low on the stick side to put Russia up 3-2.
Out of reach
Alexei Morozov put the game out of reach at 16:33 when he took a pass from Sergei Zinoviev and wristed in a shot from the faceoff circle.
Sweden took a 1-0 lead at 8:43 of the first period when Martin Thornberg beat Russia goalie Alexander Eremenko with a low blast on a power play. Russia equalized in the 17th when Alexander Kharitonov split two Swedish defenders and was hauled down, giving Russia a penalty shot.
Morozov skated in and calmly lifted a backhand over the shoulder of Ersberg.
Denis Grebeshkov gave Russia a 2-1 lead three minutes into the second period by stuffing a rebound past Ersberg.
Alexander Steen leveled the score picking up a loose puck in close and slipping it between the pads of Eremenko at 18:22.
Matthew Lombardi scored three goals in Canada's victory, but Jay McClement scored just eight seconds into the game, a Canadian record at the tournament.
The International Ice Hockey Federation could not confirm that the shot was the earliest ever in the tournament.
"It was huge for us. It set the tone. Basically we started the game with a 1-0 lead," Lombardi said.
Mike Cammalleri put Canada up 2-0 less than two minutes later, banging in a cross-crease pass from Eric Staal on the power play.
"It's the first time we scored first all tournament," McClement said. "Then the second goal kind of took the wind out of their sails."
Lombardi made it 3-0 at 12:48 and Cammalleri scored his second under a minute later.
Paul Stastny made it 3-1, but Lombardi added his second.
Hat trick
Lee Stempniak reduced the gap less than three minutes later and Lombardi completed his hat trick in the final period. Stastny also scored for the US.
"Hopefully we'll meet again in a more meaningful game later on," Stempniak said.
The US has only managed to defeat Canada three times in the tournament's history.
In earlier matches where only tournament rankings were at stake, Michael Wolf scored twice, including the winning goal, to lift Germany over Belarus 6-5 and improve his country's chances of getting an automatic berth for the 2010 Olympics.
Jens Nielsen scored the winning goal to help Denmark defeat Italy 5-2 in the final game for both teams.
Germany, which was promoted from Division I last year, leaves the championship in ninth place, while Belarus is 11th.
With the win, Denmark ended up in 10th place and claimed their first top-10 finish since joining the top division in 2003.
The Italians finished 12th.
This tournament and next year's world championships in Canada count toward qualification in the Vancouver Olympics.
The nine teams at the top of the International Ice Hockey Federation's rankings will directly enter the Olympics.
Those ranked 10th and worse will compete for the last three spots in qualifying tournaments.
In the relegation round, Austria beat Ukraine 8-4, but both teams will still be relegated after Norway's 7-4 win over Latvia.
Norway and Latvia will remain in the elite 16-team division for another season.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS