Sweden Upsets Canada At Ice Hockey Worlds; U.S. Moves Closer To Qualifying

Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (AHN) – Jonas Andersson, a former Nashville Predators prospect, found the back of the net twice as the Sweden trounced heavily-favored Canada 3-1 Sunday in Group F action for a spot in the quarterfinals at the 2010 World Championship.

With the victory, Sweden improved to 3-1 with nine points.

It marked only the second setback in the tournament and the first in the qualification round for Canada.

As a result, Sweden, along with Switzerland, which defeated coach Craig MacTavish’s team Wednesday, will finish ahead of Canada in the six-team division.

Also in Group F play, Latvia remained in contention after blanking Norway, 5-0.

Two-time defending champions Russia, on the other hand, had a smooth passage into the quarterfinals Sunday after crushing Denmark, 6-1, in Group E action in Cologne, Germany.

Detroit Red Wings’ Pavel Datsyuk had a hat trick, while Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin tallied his fifth goal in five games for the unbeaten Russian squad.

Also in Cologne, Alexei Kalyuzhny scored the eventual winner in overtime as the host country edged Belarus, 2-1.

Germany is set to play Denmark Monday.

In the relegation round, Ottawa Senators forward Nick Foligno tallied twice, while Brandon Dubinsky of the New York Rangers had a goal and two assists, as the United States blanked France, 4-0.

Team USA Hockey, which has six points in Group G, is moving a step closer in securing a spot at the worlds next year.

The Americans will play their final relegation-group match against Italy, which outpointed Kazakhstan, 2-1, Sunday also in relegation.

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