Canada, Russia bag wins at World Championships

Steve Stamkos and Dany Heatley each scored twice as Canada beat Belarus 6-1 in their opening game of the World Championship.

The Tampa Bay Lightning rookie Stamkos started the scoring just over a minute into the game on Friday. His second goal came later in the first period on the power play.

The Ottawa Senators winger Heatley, the all-time leading scorer in world championship play, scored a pair of late goals.

Canada, which lost to Russia in last year's final on home ice, has a young team that includes three teenagers in its quest for a 25th world title.

BERN, Switzerland (AP) -- Russia has started the defense of its World hockey title with a 5-0 win over Germany.

Oleg Saprykin, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Zinoviev, Anton Kuryanov and Denis Zaripov scored Friday in the opening game of the tournament being played in the Swiss cities of Bern and Zurich.

Russia, ranked No. 1 in the world, had five NHL players among the 20 dressed for the game. Rosters can be increased during the 17-day tournament with players allowed to join after their teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Ilya Bryzgalov, the Phoenix Coyotes goaltender, had 20 saves for the shutout.