Canada wins Group A at men's hockey worlds, will face Denmark in Thursday quarterfinal
Austria reaches playoffs at the tournament for 1st time since 1994
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists as Canada finished atop its group at the men's world hockey championship with a 5-3 win over co-host Sweden on Tuesday.
Travis Sanheim, Tyson Foerster, Ryan O'Reilly and Macklin Celebrini also scored as Canada bounced back from a 2-1 shootout loss to Finland on Monday with a statement defeat over the previously unbeaten Swedes.
"Obviously, we scored some big goals, but we were committed to doing the right things in our defensive zone and through the neutral zone," Canada coach Dean Evason said. "Our third period tonight was exactly how we need to play regardless of the score, because that is how we are going to be successful."
Travis Konecny had three assists, while team captain Sidney Crosby and Jared Spurgeon had two helpers apiece. Elias Lindholm, Marcus Johansson and Rasmus Andersson scored for Sweden.
WATCH | Canada rides balanced attack to win over Sweden:
"The Finland game was good for us," Konecny said. "We realized how well teams can play in this tournament, and how much they can push us and test us.
"We went back to the drawing board and took advantage of some more opportunities tonight, and I think that was a good learning experience."
Jordan Binnington made 25 saves for Canada, while Jacob Markstrom stopped 19 shots for Sweden.
Canada finished the preliminary first in Group A with 19 points from six regulation wins and an extra-time loss.
Sweden was just one point behind the Canadians. Finland was third in the group with 16 points, and Austria took the group's final playoff spot, finishing fourth with 10 points.
After a tight first half of the game, Celebrini's third goal of the tournament came after he took a crisp outlet pass from Crosby at Sweden's blue line, skated in on Markstrom and tucked the puck past the goalie's outstretched pad.
MacKinnon added more insurance with his seventh goal, which tied Lindholm and Switzerland's Sven Andrighetto for the tournament lead.
"It was a tight game, but we were able to capitalize on our chances," MacKinnon said. "[Konecny and O'Reilly] are two awesome players to play with, and they are both hard on the puck and have great vision.
"I feel like we complement each other well, and you could see that on [Konecny's pass] on my goal. There was a lot of hard work on that shift to retrieve pucks and keep the play alive, and all I had to do was put the puck in an open net."
The extra cushion came in handy when Andersson scored with Markstrom pulled for an extra attacker.
Austria 6, Latvia 1
Austria reached the men's world hockey championship playoffs on Tuesday for the first time in 31 years.
Austria defeated Latvia 6-1 in Stockholm and became the fourth and final team to advance to the quarterfinals from Group A.
Switzerland beat Kazakhstan 4-1 in Herning, Denmark, and moved to the top of Group B before later games.
Kazakhstan was relegated after five years in the top division.
Switzerland finished with 19 points, two ahead of the U.S. and the Czechs.
U.S. 5, Czech Republic 2
Frank Nazar scored twice to help the United States rally for a 5-2 victory over the Czech Republic and hand the titleholder its first defeat at this year's tournament.
The victory lifted the Americans to second place in Group G in Herning, Denmark. Switzerland won the group, with the Czechs finishing third.
"I loved our effort and how we played to our identity," U.S. head coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "Give our power play credit, too. Overall, great team effort and a good step forward as we continue to build."
Nazar deflected a shot into the net to tie the game at 2-2 1:35 into the final period on a power play. The 21-year-old forward, who plays with Chicago in the NHL, scored again on another power play, his sixth goal at the tournament.
Logan Cooley roofed a shot from close range to make it 4-2 with 6:31 to go and Andrew Peeke finished it off with a goal into an empty net.
Josh Doan gave the Americans a 1-0 lead 9:25 into the game on a rebound with a backhand between the pads of goalie Karel Vejmelka.
The U.S. dominated the first period, outshooting its opponent 23-8. The Czechs came back in the second, as David Pastrnak tied the game on a breakway 41 seconds into the period by beating his Boston Bruins teammate Swayman for his sixth goal at the tournament.
Pastrnak then set up Martin Necas in the left circle to one-time a shot that put the Czechs 2-1 up 8:33 into the middle period.
Finland defeated Slovakia 2-1.
With files from The Associated Press and Field Level Media
