VIENNA, 7 May 2005 — Canada passed their first tough test of the world ice hockey championship on Thursday as Rick Nash scored twice in a 3-1 win over the United States to claim top spot in Group B after the preliminary round.
The Czech Republic also ran their record to 3-0, and took top place in Group D, with a 1-0 win over Kazakhstan while Switzerland forced Germany into the relegation round with a 5-1 victory.
Latvia punched their ticket to the second round with a 3-1 victory over winless Slovenia, who are now also headed to the relegation round.
For the second day running, news off the ice dominated the tournament after the International Ice Hockey Federation announced Ukraine defenseman Oleksandr Pobyedonostsev tested positive for the banned steroid norandrosterone.
Pobyedonostsev is the second player in two days to be thrown out of the tournament for a drugs offense after Belarus forward Tsimafei Filin tested positive for nandrolone. Both play in the top Belarus league but for different teams.
After facing Slovenia and Latvia, the U.S. looked to test the mettle of the two times defending champions, having also beaten the same two teams. But Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nash had a big night to ruin any hopes of an American upset.
Nash, who helped HC Davos to a Swiss league title this season after the NHL abandoned its season due to a labour dispute, opened the scoring when he picked up his own rebound and fired a shot to the low far corner past U.S. goalie Rick DiPietro 51 seconds into the second period.
Boston Bruin forward Mike Knuble evened things up at 5:16 of the second when Canadian defenseman Ed Jovanovski misplayed the puck just inside his own zone. Knuble pounced on the mistake and fired a shot that found its way through Martin Brodeur’s legs.
Nash restored the lead at 11:29 of the same period when he took a quick clearing pass from Dan Boyle and raced up the ice alone. The speedy forward crossed in front of the American net and flipped the puck over a sprawled out DiPietro.
Joe Thornton, who played this season with Davos as well, made it 3-1 with a power play goal at 2:22 of the third period with Nash getting an assist.
“It feels great to beat the US and get the two points,” Nash said.
“For our line to get all three goals is obviously good but you look at the things we did in the first period, like (Kirk) Maltby killing penalties and Martin (Brodeur) making some big saves, that was also big for us.”
Brodeur looked sharp in goal, making several tough saves to keep the Americans from getting back into the game.
Canada face Sweden in the first game of the next round — which is also a round robin format — today.
The US will play Finland on Friday. “When you’re playing Canada, you have to bury your chances,” said U.S. forward Doug Weight.
“Martin is a great goalie, especially when he gets the lead. They got the first goal and that was a momentum changer.”
The Czechs, playing without injured forward Jaromir Jagr, lacked their usual offensive spark for much of the game, allowing the Kazakhs to control the play for long periods.
Ales Hemsky scored the only goal of the game halfway through the first period when his shot trickled past Kazakh goalie Vitaliy Kolesnik.
Jagr, who broke a finger against Germany on Tuesday was in Vienna but did not dress for the game.
He has been fitted with a special splint to allow him to hold a stick and is expected back for the first game of the second round on Saturday against rivals Slovakia.
The Germans needed a win to move on, but once again their offense sputtered and Switzerland took advantage of numerous power play opportunities, scoring four times with the extra man.
Despite their loss, the Kazakhs also advance, and play Belarus today. Latvia square off against Ukraine today in their first game of the second round.
