Sweden, Germany victorious at Worlds

Posted: Mon May 5 10:16 PM

Quebec City, QC (Sports Network) - Sweden recorded a decisive win while Germany shocked its opponent on Monday in preliminary round play at the 2008 World Hockey Championship.

After escaping Belarus with a 6-5 win in its first contest, Sweden buried France, 9-0, Monday evening. Nicklas Backstrom led the way with a pair of goals while fellow NHLers Alexander Edler and Robert Nilsson also scored along with former pro Kenny Jonsson.

In Halifax, Germany toppled Slovakia, 4-2. Marco Sturm and Stefan Ustorf notched first-period power-play goals, while Michael Hackert hit the net twice including the game-winner.

The Germans complete the round against Norway on Wednesday night while Slovakia faces Finland Wednesday afternoon.

Switzerland and Finland were afternoon winners at Colisee Pepsi in Quebec's capital.

Julien Sprunger scored a pair of goals to lift Switzerland to a 2-1 victory over Belarus, while Tuomo Ruutu netted the overtime winner to give Finland a 3-2 triumph over Norway.

Martin Gerber stopped 22 shots for the Swiss, who improved to 2-0 in Group A and clinched a spot in the qualifying round of the tournament. The Finns also earned a spot in the next round and would finish atop Group C with a victory in its round-robin finale against Slovakia.

Belarus has dropped its first two games and needs to beat France to avoid the relegation round. Norway picked up one point for the overtime loss and will need to beat Germany to advance to the qualifying round.