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Ennis scores late, Canada rallies for win vs. Sweden

Wednesday, 05.06.2015 / 7:29 PM

By NHL.com Staff -  / 2015 IIHF World Championship blog

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2015 IIHF World Championship blog
Ennis scores late, Canada rallies for win vs. Sweden

Canada overcame a three-goal deficit and defeated Sweden 6-4 on Wednesday in a Group A preliminary-round game at the 2015 IIHF World Championship at 02 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic.

Forward Tyler Ennis (Buffalo Sabres) scored a power-play goal with 6:29 remaining to give undefeated Canada its first lead, 5-4. Forward Tyler Seguin (Dallas Stars) scored an empty-net goal with 1:50 left.

"We had a big wakeup call in the first," Seguin said, according to the IIHF website. "We went to the dressing room and talked before the second [period]. A lot of guys were saying we can do better. We can score goals. We can be better at defending. We put it all together and came away with three points."

Sweden (2-1-0-1, eight points) led 3-0 after the first period on goals by forwards Anton Lander (Edmonton Oilers), Victor Rask (Carolina Hurricanes) and Filip Forsberg (Nashville Predators). It was the first time Canada trailed in the tournament.

But Canada (4-0-0-0, 12 points) answered with three goals in a span of 8:43 in the second. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad (Florida Panthers) scored at 6:43, forward Taylor Hall (Oilers) made it 3-2 by scoring on a penalty shot at 11:27 and forward Sean Couturier (Philadelphia Flyers) tied it at 14:23.

Sweden restored the lead 56 seconds later on a goal by forward Oscar Moller and led 4-3 after two periods.

Canada pulled even again on a goal by defenseman Patrick Wiercioch (Ottawa Senators) at 10:24 of the third, and Ennis scored the go-ahead goal 3:07 later.

Canada forward Ryan O'Reilly (Colorado Avalanche) and Sweden forward Loui Eriksson (Boston Bruins) each had two assists.

Goalie Mike Smith (Arizona Coyotes) made 28 saves for Canada; Anders Nilsson finished with 33 saves for Sweden.

Canada continues group play on Saturday against France; Sweden plays Germany on Thursday.

Latvia 2, Switzerland 1 (OT): Forward Kaspars Daugavins scored 2:19 into overtime to give Latvia its first win of the tournament in a Group A game at O2 Arena.

"It was a turnover on their part," Daugavins said, describing his game-winning goal on the IIHF website. "I wanted to cut into the middle and shoot, but I saw [forward Lauris] Darzins behind me. Both defensemen kind of went to me at first and then he made an unbelievable pass back to me. I had an empty net."

Latvia opened the scoring 4:19 into the second period on a goal by forward Andris Dzerins and preserved the 1-0 lead until Switzerland forward Matthias Bieber scored with 1:51 remaining in the third.

Latvia (0-1-0-3, two points) continues group play Friday against Germany; Switzerland (2-0-2-0, eight points) plays Sweden on Saturday.

Norway 3, Slovakia 2: Norway scored three straight goals, two by defenseman Mattias Norstebo, to overcome a two-goal deficit and earn its first victory of the tournament in a Group B preliminary-round game at CEZ Arena in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Goals by forwards Tomas Surovy late in the first period and Marek Daloga early in the second gave Slovakia a 2-0 lead. Forward Marian Gaborik (Los Angeles Kings) assisted on Surovy's goal, and forward Tomas Tatar (Detroit Red Wings) had an assist on Daloga's goal.

Norway cut the deficit in half at 5:40 of the second period on Norstebo's power-play goal. Less than 10 minutes later, forward Mats Olsen Rosseli scored to tie the game 2-2, and Norstebo's power-play goal 1:56 into the third proved to be the winner.

"We tried something different today on the power play and it worked out," Norstebo said. "That's a good feeling for sure."

Norway (1-0-0-3, three points) plays Slovenia on Friday. Slovakia (1-2-0-1, seven points) faces Finland on Saturday.

Russia 5, Denmark 2: Forward Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis Blues) scored a goal, forward Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins) had two assists and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets) made 18 saves to help Russia win its Group B game at CEZ Arena.

Forward Sergei Mozyakin scored two goals and forward Evgeni Dadonov had a goal and an assist to help Russia (3-0-0-1, nine points) move into second place in Group B. Russia and the United States each have nine points, but the U.S. has played one fewer game. The United States defeated Russia two days ago.

Malkin assisted on Russia's second goal of the game midway through the first period. Russia led 3-1 after the second before Denmark made it a one-goal game 9:36 into the third period on a power-play goal by Thomas Spelling. But Malkin got his second assist on Mozyakin's goal with 2:57 remaining, and Tarasenko scored 48 seconds later.

"I was able to contribute more today," said Malkin, who was held without a point in Pittsburgh's loss to the New York Rangers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. "Maybe I'm recovering a little bit, got some rest so I feel a bit better. And I'm working better with my partners. I'm enjoying playing on this line and we're trying to create chances and score goals."

Russia continues group play Saturday against Belarus; Denmark (0-0-1-3, one point) plays the United States on Friday.

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