TAMPERE, Finland — Sakari Manninen scored and added two assists as host Finland defeated the United States 4-1 to keep a perfect record at the ice hockey world championship on Monday.
After Nashville Predators forward Mikael Granlund gave Finland a 1-0 lead on a power play in the opening period, Austin Watson was given a major penalty early in the middle period for a high hit on Teemu Hartikainen. Granlund has played well for the hosts after being a late addition once the Predators’ postseason run ended last week.
Former NHL forward Valtteri Filppula and Manninen used the following five-minute power play to increase the lead to 3-0, and Mikko Lehtonen added the fourth later in the frame.
Arizona Coyotes forward Alex Galchenyuk scored the consolation goal for the Americans in the third period.
Finland goaltender Jussi Olkinuora stopped 29 shots, 15 of them in the final period.
Finland leads Group B in Tampere with nine points from three games. Team USA has five points in third.
Winnipeg Jets center Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice to spark defending champion Canada over Slovakia 5-1 for a third straight victory. After the teams entered the middle period at 1-1, Dubois scored the eventual winner on a power play and added one more to double the advantage for his fourth goal of the tournament.
Adam Lowry, Morgan Geekie and Cole Sillinger, celebrating his 19th birthday, also netted for Canada to top Group A in Helsinki with nine points from three games. Slovakia has three points.
Goaltender Logan Thompson made 34 saves as Team Canada outshot Slovakia 44-35.
In another Group A game, Germany defeated France 3-2 for a second win, while Latvia beat Norway 3-2 to record its first win in Group B.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.espn.com