Finland beat Hungary to go top of their world ice hockey group

Two-time former champions Finland consolidated their Group B lead at the world ice hockey championship with a confident 3-0 win over promoted Hungary at Saint Petersburg on Wednesday.

Toronto Maple Leafs center Leo Komarov collected two points for assists, while goalie Juuse Saros made just 13 saves for a shutout setting up Finland's win, which lifted them top of their group, three points ahead of reigning champions Canada, who have a game in hand.

The Finns outshot Hungary 38-9 in the first two periods but Magyar goaltender Adam Vay was catching and deflecting almost all the pucks thrown at him.

But he was unable to deny a shot by Jokerit Helsinki forward Atte Ohtamaa 3:38 before the second interval.

Finland's skipper Miko Koivu added his goal halfway into the third period, while Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov rounded off the scoring with a powerplay effort with 3:26 remaining.

In the early Group B encounter the 2002 champions Slovakia suffered their second consecutive defeat at the hands of Belarus, who battled back from two goals down to notch their first win at the championship 4-2.

After a goalless first period Edmonton Oilers rear guard Andrej Sekera and Detroit Red Wings winger Tomas Jurco scored within the space of six minutes of the second to give Slovakia a 2-0 lead.

But in the third Belarus picked up steam to reply through Kiril Gotovets, Artur Gavrus, Andrei Stepanov and Charles Linglet, who all scored to claim a well-deserved win.

"This match was the most important for us at the world championships so far," Belarus head coach Dave Lewis said.

"We have a very hard schedule but that is no excuse and now we have no other choice but to keep on winning from one match to another."

Meanwhile, in the early match in Group A, Switzerland recorded their second win at the event beating Latvia 5-4 in Moscow's nine-goal thriller.

After the first break Minnesota Wild forward Nino Niederreiter scored twice on powerplay, while Gregory Hofmann added his goal to give Switzerland a comfortable 3-0 lead.

But Latvia levelled the score courtesy of a powerplay brace by Mikelis Redlihs and an unassisted goal by Ronalds Kenins in an exciting second period.

In the third the teams traded goals by Montreal Canadiens Sven Andrighetto and Aleksejs Sirokovs before Eric Blum netted the Swiss team's winner with 1:29 to go.

"For us it was a huge game. We needed to get at least two points but won all three today," Switzerland manager Patrick Fischer said.

"We took a good start into the second period but then we've lost that 3-0 lead. At the end we've won by a lucky shot but for us this win is very important anyway and I'm really proud of my men."

Later in Moscow Sweden outscored promoted Kazakhstan 7-3 courtesy of a hat-trick by Detroit Red Wings winger Gustav Nyquist to join the Czech Republic on top of Group A. The Czechs have a game in hand

Source :AFP