NHL

Islanders’ Tavares scores fifth goal at Worlds

KOSICE, Slovakia — Canada, behind Islanders forward John Tavares’ fifth goal of the tournament, beat Sweden 3-2 Monday to keep a perfect record in group play at the world hockey championships.

Next up for the Canadians is Thursday’s quarterfinal against Russia, which eliminated Canada in the quarters at last year’s worlds.

“Hopefully this year produces a better result for us,” Tavares said.

David Petrasek tied it for Sweden after James Neal opened the scoring 1:08 into the game on a breakaway. Tavares gave Canada a lead again before Mattias Tedenby evened it on a power play. Rick Nash netted the winner on a power play with 7:29 left.

Sweden plays Germany in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

The United States lost to Switzerland 5-3, a defeat that leaves the Americans facing defending champion Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.

The United States had already qualified for the playoff round. It finished fourth in Group F and now awaits the Czechs on Wednesday. Switzerland, which got two goals from Kevin Lotscher, already had been eliminated.

James van Riemsdyk scored for the Americans a day after joining the team following the Philadelphia Flyers’ exit from the NHL playoffs.

“I was a little bit tired as the game went on but I’m glad to be over to represent my country,” he said. “It’s a quick turnaround; it’s a lot of emotions. It’s pretty devastating as your season ends, but then you have a chance to represent your country.”

Craig Smith gave the United States a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, but Lotscher evened the score 34 seconds later. The Swiss jumped ahead 3-1 on goals from Raphael Diaz and Ivo Ruthemann. Ryan Shannon cut it to one on a breakaway but Lotscher restored the two-goal lead midway through the middle period.

Van Riemsdyk made it 4-3 with 1:43 remaining but Ryan Gardner scored into an empty net to complete the upset.

In other games Monday, Slovakia beat Denmark 4-1, Finland edged Russia 3-2 in a shootout and the Czech Republic topped Germany 5-2 in Group E. In Group F, France downed Norway 5-2

In Bratislava, Finland rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Russia. Nikolai Kolyomin and Ilya Nikulin scored 11 seconds apart in the first period for Russia, before Mikko Koivu and Janne Niskala netted in the second to tie it.

The Czech Republic dropped Germany behind two goals from Tomas Plekanec. Michael Frolik, Karel Rachunek and Devils forward Patrik Elias also scored for the Czechs.

Marius Holtet scored four goals to lead Norway over France and clinch the final spot in the quarterfinals, where it plays Finland on Thursday. Holtet is the leading scorer at the tournament with six goals.

“This has been a great tournament for us,” said Norway coach Roy Johansen, whose team advanced to the quarters for only the second time since the introduction of the playoffs in 1992.

In Bratislava, host Slovakia rallied from one goal down to beat Denmark for a consolation victory. Jozef Stumpel, Miroslav Satan, Marian Hossa and Richard Zednik scored for Slovakia to give the home crowd something to cheer about.