The United States defeated defending champion Finland 4-1 to open the ice hockey world championships on Friday.
Alex Tuch scored two goals and Drew O’Çonnor had a goal and two assists to lead the US. Cutter Ganthier also scored and goalie Casey DeSmith made 23 saves in Tampere.
Teemu Hartikainen gave the hosts a 1-0 lead late in the first period on a power play before Ganthier equalized from left circle in the second.
O’Çonnor and Tuch completed the rally midway through the final period. Tuch scored his second to an empty goal.
In the Latvian capital of Riga, the Czech Republic beat Slovakia 3-2.
Last year’s runner-up Canada faced Latvia in their opener on Friday night, while Sweden played Germany in Tampere.
Finland and Latvia are hosting the tournament after hosting rights were stripped from Russia due to the war in Ukraine. Tampere was one of the host cities last year and Riga played host in 2021.
Russia and its ally Belarus are excluded from the tournament for the second year in a row.
37893
36585
77484
86183
69932
99837
82903
89742
59721
21746
80698
91238
71575
21897
13445
92914
11350
40835
09365
91381
71879
73646
76926
71659
16533
99307
92473
27154
63397
34847
50838