By Phil O’Connor
STOCKHOLM, May 12 (Reuters) – Dion Phaneuf of the Toronto
Maple Leafs scored twice as Canada hammered Kazakhstan 8-0 in
Helsinki on Saturday to book a place in the quarter-finals of
the ice hockey world championships.
Canada top Group H, four points ahead of Finland in second
place with the U.S. two points further back in third.
At the other end of the table goaltender Cristobal Huet
helped France to a 4-2 win over Switzerland, one of the biggest
upsets of the tournament.
The 36-year-old, on loan at Swiss club Fribourg-Gotteron
from the Chicago Blackhawks, made 41 saves.
France, seeking a first victory over the Swiss in 12 years,
went 2-0 up before being pegged back by two goals from Damien
Brunner.
Switzerland’s comeback ended when Goran Bezina was sent to
the bench for five minutes for a check to the head and France
struck twice while their opponents were short-handed.
In another Group H game, Slovakia fired four goals in less
than four minutes in the second period en route to a 5-1 triumph
over Belarus.
That result left the Slovaks fourth in the group.
In Group S in Stockholm, Sweden bounced back from a 7-3
defeat by Russia to trounce Italy 4-0.
The Swedes were without Johan Franzen of the Detroit Red
Wings after he suffered a broken nose against Russia.
Norway beat Latvia 3-0 to climb to fourth in Group S on
seven points, one ahead of their opponents.
Also in Stockholm, Germany notched their second win of the
campaign when they edged out bottom team Denmark 2-1.
Russia and Sweden have 15 points at the top of the group,
four ahead of Czech Republic in third.
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)
