Germany, Italy win at hockey worlds
Canada off the mark as US win again
MINSK, Belarus, May 11, (Agencies): Germany won its second straight game of the hockey world championship, beating Latvia 3-2 on Sunday, while France failed to build on its stunning victory over Canada with a 2-1 loss to Italy.
Thomas Oppenheimer scored on a penalty shot in the third period, squeezing the puck between the pads of goaltender Kristers Gudlevskis to lift the Germans to victory.
Germany took the lead with goals from Marcel Noebels and Frank Mauer but Georgijs Pujacs and Mikelis Redlihs helped Latvia come back each time.
Germany has five points in Group B after two matches while Latvia has three.
“I have to be happy with my team’s performance,” Germany coach Pat Cortina said. “That was a step into the right direction after yesterday.”
A last-minute goal with 58 seconds remaining in regulation by Markus Gander gave Italy its first victory of the tournament. Italy, a newcomer to the top division, has three points in Group A while France has two.
“It was great to get our first win and get our confidence going,” Italy coach Tom Pokel said.
Meanwhile, Olympic gold medallists Canada bounced back from a shock 3-2 opening-day defeat against France by recording a 4-1 victory over Slovakia at the world ice hockey championship in Belarus on Saturday.
Elsewhere, United States made it two wins from two Group B games by beating Switzerland 3-2.
The Canadians trailed 1-0 to the Slovaks who had also lost their first match against Czech Republic.
Karol Sloboda opened the scoring in the Group A encounter on a powerplay midway through the second period but Canada soon levelled when Jason Garrison’s shot deflected off Joel Ward to beat goaltender Jan Laco.
The third period was one-way traffic as the North Americans took control.
Cody Hodgson made it 2-1 before Vancouver Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieska drove a slap shot beyond Donbass Donetsk netminder Laco.
Canada added a fourth goal when Ward netted following a good pass from Alex Burrows.
The US crushed hosts Belarus 6-1 in their opening game but the Swiss proved much tougher opposition even though they had been thrashed 5-0 by Russia a day earlier.
Denis Hollenstein put the Swiss ahead early in the second period before Peter Mueller struck for the Americans.
The US trailed again when Damien Brunner scored but Craig Smith of the Nashville Predators levelled early in the third period on the powerplay.
With less than seven minutes remaining the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Tyler Johnson grabbed the winning goal. behind the net, and it banked off the Kings and into the net.
The Kings took control of the second period but had no goals to show for it. Getzlaf even saved a goal early in the second period, blocking an open net.
The Ducks played more than 25 minutes without a shot but Los Angeles could not capitalize on its dominance, with Gibson making several big saves in the final minutes.