Switzerland, Finland, Belarus, Norway win at Worlds

Posted: Wed May 7 10:52 PM

Quebec City, QC (Sports Network) - Jonas Hiller made 28 saves to lead Switzerland to a 4-2 victory over Sweden at the 2008 World Hockey Championship.

Beat Forster picked up a goal and an assist for the Swiss, who beat Sweden in World Championship play for the first time in 15 years and finished first in Group A with a record of 3-0. The Swedes wound up second with a mark of 2-1.

Switzerland will open the qualifying round on Thursday against the Czech Republic, while Sweden will take on Denmark.

Finland also wrapped up preliminary round play on Wednesday with a 3-2 victory over Slovakia. Teemu Selanne snapped a 2-2 tie early in the second period with a power-play goal to give the Finns the victory and first place in Group C.

The Finns will face Latvia in their first game of the qualifying round on Friday.

Alexei Ugarov scored the game-winner midway through the second period, as Belarus advanced to the qualifying round for the fourth consecutive year with a 3-1 win over France. Belarus finished third in Group A and will battle Russia on Friday.

Morten Ask's goal with 4:07 remaining lifted Norway to a 3-2 win over Germany. Norway's first tournament win secured second place in Group C and set up a match against the high-powered Canadian squad on Thursday.

The loss dropped Germany into a tie with Slovakia for third place in Group C. However, Germany owned the tie-breaker, defeating Slovakia 4-2 in a head-to- head matchup, and will face the United States on Thursday in the qualifying round.