MOSCOW, May 11 (R-Sport) - The United States soared to the top of Group H at the hockey world championships on Saturday with a routine 4-2 win over France.
Stephen Gionta of the New Jersey Devils and Nashville's Bobby Butler had the Americans two up by the end of the first period.
The French showed only flashes of the resilience that earned a shock 2-1 win over Russia earlier in the competition, pulling one back through Kevin Hecquefeuille on a powerplay at 28:24 in the second.
Colorado's Paul Stastny scored his third goal of the tournament at 51:37 in the third period and David Moss put the result to bed two minutes later in another five-on-four play.
Yorick Treille scored a consolation goal for the French 90 seconds from the final buzzer.
A 5-3 defeat to Russia remains the only blotch on the U.S. record thus far, leaving the Americans 4-1. They have 12 points and lead Finland by a single point at the top of the eight-team pool, with Russia in third on nine points.
Canada leads the other pool, Group S, also on a 4-1 record.
