Sweden beats Denmark 5-1 in world junior hockey

MONTREAL (AP) Erie Otters star Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists - all on power plays - in Canada's 4-0 victory over Germany on Saturday night in the World Junior Championship.

Max Domi, Curtis Lazar and Madison Bowey also scored, and Nic Petan had three assists to take over the tournament scoring lead with six points. Eric Comrie made 17 saves to help Canada improve to 2-0 in Group A play. Canada opened the tournament Friday night with an 8-0 victory over Slovakia.

The 17-year-old McDavid, expected to be the top pick in the NHL draft, scored for the first time since he broke his right hand in a fight during an Ontario Hockey League game Nov. 11.

''It's exciting. I haven't scored in a long time,'' McDavid said ''I missed a whole bunch of games. Scoring goals is fun, so it was nice. There wasn't a whole lot of difference (from the Slovakia game) other than that the puck was going in. You guys (the media) might have thought I played a terrible game, but in reality, I had my share of chances. That's just the way it goes sometimes.''

In the other Group A game, Slovakia beat defending champion Finland 2-1. Denis Godla made 37 saves, and Peter Cehlarik and Matus Holenda scored for Slovakia.

Godla was pulled against Canada after allowing five goals on 23 shots.

''We prepared ourselves for today's game,'' Godla said. ''It was a new beginning.''

Mikko Rantanen scored for Finland.

The United States opened Friday with a 2-1 shootout victory over Finland. The Americans will face Germany on Sunday, Slovakia on Monday and finish group play Wednesday night against Canada. The top two teams in each group will advance to the quarterfinals.

In Group B in Toronto, Maple Leafs draft pick William Nylander scored in Sweden's 5-1 victory over Denmark, and Nashville prospect Kevin Fiala had two goals in Switzerland's opening 5-2 victory over the Czech Republic. Sweden beat the Czech Republic 5-2 on Friday night.

Lucas Wallmark, Jacob de la Rose, Anton Blidh and Sebastian Aho also scored for Sweden and Linus Soderstrom made 19 saves. Sweden took a 3-0 lead in the first period.

''It was really important for us to get that first goal,'' defenseman William Lagesson said. ''It helped us relax and put the pressure on them.''

Noah Rod, Tim Wieser and Luca Fazzini also scored for Switzerland.

''We have a good team that can score goals,'' Rod said.