Sweden No Match for United States, 5-3

Brian Gionta scored twice and the United States extended its surprising run at the World Hockey Championships by handing Sweden its first loss of the tournament, 5-3, Monday.

The U.S., which had already secured a berth in the quarterfinals, will end the second round atop the Group E standings with eight points, ahead of Sweden, Latvia and Belarus.

“Our goal was to qualify for the quarterfinals, and now we’ve done that,” Coach Lou Vairo said. “Now we have to win our game Thursday or we go home. Now we might be able to advance to the medal round.”

In other games Monday, the Czech Republic beat Slovakia, 6-2, Finland clinched a spot in the quarterfinals with a 7-4 victory over Norway, and Switzerland defeated Latvia, 4-1, to secure its place in the quarters.

Washington Capital forward Jeff Halpern, with his first goal of the tournament, and Gionta gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead midway through the first period before Bjorn Nord responded for Sweden.

The teams traded goals in the second, and the U.S. took a 4-2 lead when Jason Blake of the Kings charged faked a slap shot and passed to Mike Peluso, who beat Edmonton Oiler goalie Tommy Salo. Peter Nordstrom narrowed the gap to 4-3 later in the period.

With the Swedes applying pressure to pull even in the final period, Steve Konowalchuk of the Capitals scored with 46 seconds left.