HELSINKI -- Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and an assist and Yegor Korshkov chipped in with three assists as Russia defeated Finland 6-4 on Monday at the world junior hockey championship.
Sebastian Aho gave the host side the lead when he beat Russian goalie Alexander Georgiev early in the first period at Hartwall Arena. Kaprizov tied it on the power play but Patrik Laine restored Finland's one-goal cushion with 67 seconds left in the opening frame.
Aleksi Saarela scored 53 seconds into the second period to make it 3-1 before the Russians scored four times on Finnish netminder Veini Vehvilainen in a span of seven minutes 17 seconds.
Andrei Svetlakov started the rally with a shorthanded goal and Pavel Kraskovski tied the game on the power play. Vladislav Kamenev scored another goal with the man advantage and Alexander Polunin capped the outburst with an even-strength goal.
Saarela halved the Russian lead early in the third period but Radel Fazleyev tacked on an insurance goal for the Russians (1-1-0-0), who lead Group B with five points. Finland (1-0-0-1), which opened the tournament with a victory, has three points.
(The Canadian Press)
Sweden 1, U.S. 0
HELSINKI -- Linus Soderstrom made 46 saves and Alexander Nylander scored and Sweden shut out the United States 1-0 on Monday in the world junior hockey championship.
Nylander scored on a second-period breakaway. He has a goal and four assists in the tournament to lead Sweden, which is 2-0 in Group A
The United States, which fell to 1-1 after beating Canada in its opener, couldn't score despite having eight power-play chances in the game.
"Guys followed our instructions, the only thing we couldn't do was find the net. We had plenty of opportunities, but give their goalie credit, he was sensational," Team USA coach Ron Wilson said.
"Our power play was successful, we were handling the puck well, and should have had four or five goals tonight. Sometimes you face a goalie with a hot hand."
It was the first time the U.S. lost to Sweden in the world juniors since 1996, ending a 12-game winning streak.
Nylander plays in the Ontario Hockey League and is expected to be selected in the 2016 NHL draft. Soderstrom was a fourth-round pick of the New York Islanders in the 2014 draft.
"I got to make a lot of saves early on and got in the game. It was a fun game to play," Soderstrom said.
"It was important to get three points, we obviously want to win the group."
In another game on Monday, Dominik Lakatos and David Pastrnak scored and the Czech Republic blanked Slovakia 2-0.
The U.S. will face Switzerland on Wednesday and Denmark on Thursday.
(The Associated Press)
Czech Republic 2, Slovakia 0
HELSINKI -- Dominik Lakatos and David Pastrnak scored as the Czech Republic defeated Slovakia 2-0 on Monday at the world junior hockey championship.
Vitek Vanecek made 18 saves for the shutout.
Pastrnak opened the scoring with a power-play goal late in the second period at Hartwall Arena. Lakatos added an insurance goal midway through the third period.
Slovakia has split its first two games while the Czechs have one win and an overtime loss.
(The Canadian Press)
