HELSINKI, Finland ( Associated Press) – Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice to lead defending champions Canada to a 5-3 win over Germany in their opening game at the World Ice Hockey Championships on Friday.
Cole Silinger and Dubois scored from slot in the first round of a Group A game in Helsinki.
Germany reduced the deficit to one, then DuBois and Kent Johnson scored powerplay goals and Noah Gregor added another after mid-period to take a 5-1 lead.
Moritz Seder had one goal and two assists for Germany.
The United States jumped to a 3–0 lead over Latvia after the opening period and won 4–1 in their Group B opener in Tampere.
Captain Seth Jones had a power play goal and added assists on a shorthand goal, and Riley Barber, Thomas Bordeleau and Sam Lafferty each scored. Goaltender Strauss Mann intercepted 24 shots.
In another Group B game, Tony Rajala scored one goal and two assists as last year’s runners-up, Finland beat Norway 5–0.
Also in Group A, Slovakia beat France 4-2.
It is the first World Championship without any Russian representation since 1962, when the Soviets did not play in Colorado due to Cold War tensions over the construction of the Berlin Wall.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted the tournament’s host Finland to exclude Russia and its ally Belarus. The International Ice Hockey Federation replaced them with France and Austria, and stripped them of Russia’s hosting rights for the 2023 World Championships.
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