The US was put to a surprisingly tough test before emerging with a 4-2 victory over Latvia in its opening game of the ice hockey world championship on Saturday.
Latvia led twice as the US struggled to gel five days after landing in Europe.
On a day of big wins, Sweden beat Austria 7-1 in the Americans’ Group C. In Group D at Zurich, Finland routed Norway 5-0 and Jaromir Jagr’s Czech Republic also won 5-0 against Denmark.
PHOTO: AP
The US got two goals from Jack Johnson and one each from Drew Stafford and Patrick O’Sullivan after outshooting the Latvians 38-20.
The 16-team tournament starts out with two stages of round-robin group play before an eight-team playoffs.
Latvia took an early lead on a power play after Johnson was called for interference, with Herberts Vasiljevs scoring after taking a pass across the crease.
Johnson made up for his error by equalizing at 11:15.
Martins Karsums restored Latvia’s lead in the second period on a pass from behind the net, however the US scored twice in five minutes to take the lead for good.
Stafford’s shot from a tight angle on the right squeezed inside the near post and Johnson emerged from behind the net to slip his shot across goalie Edgars Masalskis. O’Sullivan scored in the third, collecting a rebound from Ron Hainsey’s shot.
The US next plays today against an Austria that was hit hard and early by Olympic champion Sweden.
Earlier, Finland scored three power play goals in the first period of their game — through Antti Miettinen, Jarkko Immonen and Niko Kapanen — to put Norway away early.
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