Lions regain top place in group beating Austria

Finland regained the top place in the Group B with 16 points in six matches after beating Austria by three goals to nil in the Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere Nokia Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Lions need to win against Czech Republic in their last group match on Tuesday to complete the first round as group champions.

An early score by Valtteri Filppula at the second minute helped the Finns to take lead in the match where the hosts completely dominated over Austria.

Mikael Granlund widen the goal difference at the 25^th minute followed by Toni Rajala at the 48^th minute to ensure the 3-0 victory against Austria.

Earlier in the previous matches, Finland beat Norway by 5-0, Latvia by 2-1, USA by 4-1 and Great Britain by 6-0 while lost to Sweden in tiebreaker.

In another match an extra time goal brought victory for USA against Sweden by 3 goals to 2 on Saturday.

Sweden remain at the second place with 12 points in five matches followed by Czech Republic and USA with 10 points each in five matches.

In Group A, Switzerland beat World Champion Canada by 6-3 on Saturday in Helsinki Ice Hall to take top place in Group A with 15 points in five matches followed by Canada and Germany with 12 points each.