Russia got the goal it needed from an unexpected source in a 6-5 overtime win over Sweden to open the second round at the ice hockey world championship on Thursday.
Defenseman Dmitri Kalinin scooped a loose puck into the net with 56 seconds remaining of the five-minute extra period for his second goal of the game.
Also, Canada routed the Czech Republic 5-1 and Latvia rode an inspired display by goalie Edgars Masalskis to score a shootout win over Switzerland after the host forced a 1-1 tie with 1:13 left.
PHOTO: EPA
Ruslan Salei scored late in overtime to give Belarus a comeback 3-2 victory over Norway.
Kalinin was coming off a two-goal season in 73 NHL games for the New York Rangers and Phoenix Coyotes, and had not taken a shot in his first three games of the tournament.
“He’s got some offensive skills,” Russia teammate Ilya Kovalchuk said of Kalinin. “He was in the right place at the right time. It was huge for us because we need to win our pool to be the No. 1 team and play not the best team in the quarter-finals.”
The second round has split into two groups of six teams with the top four in each advancing to the quarter-finals next week.
Results gained in the first round against other teams that advanced will count toward second-stage standings.
Defending champion Russia carried forward a maximum six points, but was thoroughly tested by a Sweden side which beat the US 6-5 in OT less than 24 hours earlier.
“It is painful right now but we have to look forward,” Sweden coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson said. “We played a good game and had enough scoring chances to win.”
In a back-and-forth game, Rickard Wallin gave Sweden an early lead on a rebound after goalie Ilya Bryzgalov pushed away a Kristian Huselius shot.
Russia didn’t force a save from Johan Holmqvist in the first nine minutes but tied the game on a power play wrist shot from defenseman Ilya Nikulin. Russia led 2-1 on Oleg Saprykin’s shot from the left circle.
However, Sweden got goals from Anton Stralman and Niklas Persson, before Kalinin’s slap shot brushed a Swedish jersey and eluded Holmqvist’s glove to make it 3-3.
Holmqvist left with a rib injury and was replaced by Jonas Gustavsson, who made 39 saves against the US on Wednesday.
Sweden led again in the third when Huselius scored through Bryzgalov’s pads, but Sergei Mozyakin tied it just 22 seconds later.
Russia got a power-play goal by Vitali Ploshkin with less than three minutes left, but Huselius forced the extra period. Bryzgalov had 33 saves for the win.
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