Switzerland beats Belarus 2-1 at ice hockey worlds 06/05/2008 00:00

Julien Sprunger scored two power-play goals on Monday at the ice hockey World Championship.

6 May 2008

QUEBEC CITY - Julien Sprunger scored two power-play goals Monday to lead Switzerland to a 2-1 win over Belarus at the ice hockey World Championship.

Sprunger put Switzerland ahead 1-0 in the first period in Quebec City. His shot from the right circle beat Belarus goalie Vitaly Koval and went in off the crossbar.

The left wing broke a 1-1 tie with his second of the game and third of the tournament. He deflected Thibault Monnet's point shot at 14:36 of the second period with what proved to be the winner. Monnet also assisted on Sprunger's first goal.

Belarus made it 1-1 at 7:34 of the second when Konstantin Koltsov stripped Philippe Furrer of the puck, then beat goalie Martin Gerber of the Ottawa Senators with a backhander.

The victory was Switzerland's second in as many games and kept Belarus winless.

Belarus bolstered its lineup by adding four players from teams eliminated from the National Hockey League playoffs: Montreal Canadiens' forwards Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn and Mikhail Grabovski as well as Colorado Avalanche defenceman Ruslan Salei.

Canadiens' defenceman Mark Streit, the Swiss captain, will not join the team because of a back injury in the NHL playoffs.

In Monday's other game in Quebec City, Sweden played France. In Halifix, Nova Scotia, it was Finland vs. Norway and Slovakia vs. Germany.

[AP / Expatica]