GRAND FORKS, North Dakota, 28 December 2004 — Kevin Romy scored twice and Michael Tobler made 19 saves to help Switzerland defeat Belarus 5-0 yesterday in its opening game of the World Junior Hockey Championship.
In yesterday’s other game, Sweden opened the tournament with a 6-0 win over Germany in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Tobler made four difficult saves in the first five minutes as Belarus controlled play, but Switzerland took a 1-0 lead in the first period on Roman Wick’s wraparound goal.
In the second period, Romy scored a short-handed goal, and Victor Stancescu and Marco Kaser also scored to give Switzerland a 4-0 lead. Romy’s second goal was the only score of the third period.
Belarus goalie Stepan Goryachevskikh made 32 saves for Belarus, which fell to 0-2. It was the tournament opener for Switzerland, which plays the United States (1-0) on Monday. Linus Persson and Johannes Salmonsson each scored two goals for Sweden against Germany.
Carl Soderberg and Elias Granat also scored, and Christopher Heino-Lindberg made 25 saves for Sweden. Thomas Greiss made 31 saves for Germany, which fell to 0-2. The tournament runs through Jan. 4.
United States, Canada, Finland and Czech Republic Win Opening Games
Dan Fritsche scored twice — including a tiebreaking short-handed goal — to lead the defending champion United States team to a 5-4 victory over Russia on Saturday night in the opening round.
In other opening-round games, Canada beat Slovakia 7-3, the Czech Republic downed Belarus 7-2, and Finland got past Germany 4-1. Fritsche’s second goal, scored midway through the second period, was the winner. The Americans took leads of 2-0, 3-2 and 4-3 against Russia, the tournament champion in 2002 and 2003. Robbie Schremp, Chris Bourque and Drew Stafford had the other goals for the United States, which got 30 saves from Al Montoya of Michigan — a first-round draft pick of the New York Rangers. Montoya made 12 saves in the third period. Fritsche snapped a 4-4 tie when he scored on a 2-on-1 break while the United States was short-handed in the second period. Kevin Porter led the rush down the left side before sliding the puck to Fritsche, who stretched out to tip it past goalie Anton Khudobin.
Dmitri Pestunov, Alexander Ovechkin, Sergei Shirokov and Yakov Rylov scored for Russia. Ovechkin was taken No. 1 overall in this year’s NHL draft by the Washington Capitals. The Americans will have a tough time repeating as champion because Canada has emerged as the tournament favorite.
Patrice Bergeron and Sidney Crosby combined for seven points to help Canada beat Slovakia 7-3 in its opening game.
