US rallies from 2-0 down to beat Austria 5-3

HELSINKI (AP) - The United States rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to beat Austria 5-3 in its opening game at the ice hockey world championship Saturday.

Russia began the defense of its title with a 6-0 win over Latvia.

David Moss began the Americans' comeback off a rebound in the first period, and defenseman Erik Johnson opened and closed the second period with power-play goals. In between, Tim Stapleton and Aaron Palushaj also scored.

Nick Bjugstad, Justin Faulk and Drew LeBlanc each had two assists.

Austria went up on Manuel Latusa's slap shot and Daniel Welser's rebound score within 40 seconds of each other.

With only seven returning skaters from last year's champion, Russia got goals from defensemen Yevgeni Birjukov, Yevgeni Medvedev and Yevgeni Ryasenski. Alexander Radulov, Ilya Kovalchuk and Kirill Petrov also scored.

Ilya Bryzgalov had an easy shutout, making 15 saves.

Also, Finland beat Slovakia 2-0 for its second win, Norway defeated newcomer Slovenia 3-1, and Canada topped Denmark 3-1.

Denmark led Canada 1-0 until Matt Duchene and Steven Stamkos scored 83 seconds apart.

Finland won behind a 36-save shutout performance by goaltender Antti Raanta.

In Stockholm, Norway beat Slovenia behind two goals from Anders Bastiansen.

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