Ilya Kovalchuk scored one goal and set up another and Russia defeated Italy 3-0 at the ice hockey world championship on Friday.
Kovalchuk put Russia on the scoreboard at 14:17 of the second period when he swatted a loose puck past Italy goaltender Jason Muzzati.
"We had a lot of scoring chances but you have to give credit to their goalie, he played a great game," Russia defender Sergei Gonchar said. "We stuck to our system even though the scoring wasn't there."
PHOTO: EPA
Earlier, Shane Doan scored three goals in the second period to lead Canada to a 6-3 win over Belarus.
Kovalchuk set up Alexander Frolov for Russia's second goal with about six minutes remaining to give the host a 2-0 lead.
Alexei Morozov later scored a power-play goal with four seconds left in the third.
Russia, which improved to 4-0, had outscored its opponents 25-6 in three previous games. It plays Switzerland today.
Doan first scored for Canada early in the second period, taking a pass from Rick Nash on a 2-on-1 and shooting the puck past Belarus goaltender Stephan Goryachevskikh for a short-handed goal.
Doan gave Canada a 2-1 lead at 5:15 of the second when Jonathan Toews' shot bounced off Goryachevskikh and went to Doan, who scored into an open net on a power play.
Toews scored again three minutes later and Doan completed his hat trick at 9:13 when he took a pass from Matthew Lombardi from behind the net and beat Goryachevskikh through the pads from in close.
"This was a game that we needed to win," Doan said. "I just try to come out here and compete and win and that's what you focus on. All the other stuff is beyond my control."
Doan has been the focus of attention off the ice after his appointment as captain of Canada's team became an issue in the nation's parliament.
Canadian ice hockey officials agreed to appear before a parliamentary committee in Ottawa to explain why Doan was chosen as captain after it was alleged he used an ethnic slur against a French-Canadian referee during a 2005 NHL game.
"As a Canadian you come over here wanting to represent everyone in Canada and when something like this happens it's a little overwhelming," Doan said.
Lombardi, who added a goal in the third for Canada, said Doan inspired the team.
"That first goal set the tone for us," Lombardi said. "Being the leader Shane is he just steps up in a lot of different ways and tonight he did it on the scoreboard."
Canada remained undefeated with a 4-0 record while Belarus dropped to 1-3. The Canadians next face the Czech Republic.
In Mytischi, Morten Ask scored the winning goal 2:22 into overtime to lift Norway over Austria 3-2 in the relegation round. Oleg Sorokins had two goals and an assist to help Latvia blank Ukraine 5-0 in the late relegation round match, and notch its first win in Moscow.
The four teams in the relegation stage play a round robin, with the top two remaining among world hockey's elite next year and the bottom pair dropping down.
After a scoreless opening period, Robert Lukas scored first for Austria at 9:19 in the second period before Jonas Andersen and Anders Bastiansen put Norway ahead within five minutes of each other. Austria's Daniel Welser leveled in the third period, forcing overtime. All but the overtime goal came on the power play.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS