Slovakia Stays Perfect After Defeating Sweden

Sweden Coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson got the result he wanted -- and satisfied international hockey officials.

One day after creating a stir by suggesting his Olympic men’s hockey team might be better off losing, the Swedes played NHL stars such as Peter Forsberg and Nicklas Lidstrom, dug for loose pucks in the corners and put hard shots on net.

Sweden just wasn’t good enough Tuesday night to beat Slovakia, falling 3-0 as Peter Bondra, Marian Hossa and Radoslav Suchy scored for the unbeaten Slovaks.

Gustafsson indicated that losing to Slovakia in the Olympic preliminary match would give his team an easier opponent in today’s quarterfinal. The loss means Sweden (3-2) will face Switzerland instead of Canada or the Czech Republic.

“I said the Swiss, on paper, is the weakest team,” Gustafsson said at a postgame news conference. “I stand behind that. That’s a fact.”

When asked about Gustafsson’s comments to Swedish TV on Monday, his players were angry and defensive.

“We always play to win games,” forward Daniel Sedin said. “If you play for Sweden, you want to win games. It doesn’t matter what you’re playing for.”

Sedin then muttered an expletive, and walked away from reporters.

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Finland 2, Germany 0 -- Niko Kapanen and Saku Koivu scored for the Finns as they got through their final preliminary game without an injury.

Regardless of the outcome, Finland (5-0) was headed into the single-elimination quarterfinals as the top team in Group A. They will play the United States, the fourth-place team from Group B, today.

The Finns beat Canada, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy and the Germans by a combined score of 19-2.

“I still think we can play better and make better decisions,” Mighty Duck forward Teemu Selanne said. “We know we’re going to have a chance to win if we play well, but if we play well and lose, that’s no shame.”

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Switzerland 3, Italy 3 -- Ivo Ruthemann scored a gift goal on a giveaway with 3 1/2 minutes left and the Swiss avoided an upset loss, tying the host Italians to secure second place in Group A.

The Swiss (2-1-2) beat Canada and the Czech Republic but also tied Germany.

As he was carrying the puck out of the Italian end, forward Mario Chitarroni feathered a soft, no-look pass toward a teammate near the middle of the slot. Chitarroni immediately grabbed his helmet in disbelief as he watched Ruthemann intercept the pass and beat goalie Jason Muzzatti from in close.

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Kazakhstan 5, Latvia 2 -- Yevgeniy Koreshkov scored two third-period goals as Kazakhstan won its first game of the tournament and ended Latvia’s slim chance to advance. The victory also clinched a spot in the quarterfinals for the U.S.