HELSINKI, May 4 (R-Sport) - Co-host Finland continued its winning start to the world hockey championships Saturday with a 2-0 win over Slovakia in Helsinki.
Finland, which has no NHL players in its roster and had a slow start Friday with a 4-3 overtime defeat of Germany, goes top of the group of teams based in Helsinki with a 2-0 record, while Slovakia, last year’s silver medal-winner, slips to 1-1.
Juhamatti Aaltonen scored Finland’s first goal at 11:28 of the first period. He took a no-look drop pass from Sami Lepisto and flung a shot from the point, beating Rastislav Stana, the Slovak goalie.
The goal came on just one of four shots the Finns took in the period, compared to 15 for the Slovaks.
Petri Kontiola, who claimed an assist for the first goal, extended Finland’s advantage on 42:09 of the third, jabbing the puck into the net from close range on an unassisted move.
That goal came nine seconds after the end of a four-on-three Slovak power play resulting from a mass brawl at the end of the second period.
Slovakia outshot the Finns 36-23 as goaltender Antti Raanta earned the shutout.
Earlier in the day in the Helsinki group, Russia beat Latvia 6-0 and the United States defeated Austria 5-3.
In Stockholm, Norway beat Slovenia 3-1 and Canada got off to a winning start with a 3-1 victory against Denmark. The Czech Republic and Sweden play later.
