Russia edges U.S., Canada routs Norway at Worlds

Yevgeni Medvedev put a loose puck past Ben Bishop with 6:22 remaining for the go-ahead goal as Russia went on to a 5-3 victory over the United States on Tuesday in the 2013 IIHF World Championship at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.

Russia remained unbeaten in the preliminary round with a 3-0 record while dropping the U.S. to 2-1 after it had beaten Austria and Latvia to start.

Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexander Radulov each had a goal and an assist for the Russians, while the Americans were led by a pair of goals from captain Paul Stastny.

"The U.S. has a great team," Kovalchuk told the IIHF website. "They work hard and play well all over the ice. We got a couple of good chances earlier in the third, but their goalie kept them in the game. To me, they seemed a little tired in the third. We knew that, and we tried to play in their zone as much as we could, and we scored two goals."

Anton Belov opened the scoring for Russia in the first period with a shot that redirected off the stick of the United States' Drew LeBlanc, but Stastny quickly turned the tide by beating Ilya Bryzgalov twice in a 3:30 span. Stastny's second goal came on a power play, but the 2-1 lead for the U.S. was short-lived as Kovalchuk answered 36 seconds later.

The second period was back and forth as well, with defenseman Matt Hunwick giving the U.S. the lead again at 7:09 and Alexei Tereshenko tying the score for Russia at 11:19.

Tereshenko had a hand in the decisive goal, as he intercepted an errant pass by Nate Thompson and tried a wraparound that Bishop stopped. But the puck stayed loose in front and Medvedev found his way through the scrum to poke it home for a 4-3 Russia lead.

Radulov added insurance by converting a Kovalchuk feed for a power-play goal with 4:33 remaining. Bryzgalov made 19 saves in the victory.

"It was just a couple of turnovers here and there," Stastny said. "When you turn the puck over, whether it’s in the neutral zone, the defensive zone, or behind our goal line, playing a team like that, they’re going to make you pay. And they did."

Bishop stopped 25 shots for the United States, which takes on the host Finns on Wednesday. Russia is back in action against France on Thursday.

Canada 7, Norway 1: Steven Stamkos had a goal and three assists as Canada rebounded from a shootout loss to Switzerland by routing previously undefeated Norway in a game played at Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Edmonton Oilers' trio of Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Justin Schultz combined for two goals and three assists, while Devan Dubnyk had a relatively quiet day, needing only to stop 13 shots.

Canada outshot Norway 13-1 in the first period, in fact, and jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Stamkos set up Andrew Ladd for the opening goal at 4:45, getting the pass off while falling down. Jeff Skinner, Matt Duchene and Claude Giroux also tallied before the opening 20 minutes were up, establishing Canada's dominance in this one.

"After the first period and having that lead it was more about playing the system and develop chemistry within your lines and just continue to work on things," captain Eric Staal told the IIHF website. "We know this is a long tournament, and we have some tough games against some pretty good teams. We have to keep improving."

Eberle set up the first of Hall's two goals 2:28 into the second. Ken Andre scored off a centering feed by Anders Bastiansen midway through the period for Norway's only answer, but Dubnyk stopped him on a breakaway later on and the Canadians went on to close the scoring with goals in the third by Stamkos and Hall.

Sweden will be the next opponent for each country -- Norway on Wednesday and Canada on Thursday.

Austria 6, Latvia 3: Thomas Vanek was one of six goal scorers as Austria notched its first win of the tournament in a game played at Hartwall Arena. Bernhard Starkbaum turned aside 36 shots in net.

Denmark 3, Slovenia 2 (OT): In a game played at Globe Arena, Morten Green scored 3:07 into overtime to give Denmark its first victory at the Worlds and keep Slovenia winless.