STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden had to rally for a 4-2 win over Austria on Saturday at the world hockey championship.
Sweden was last year’s bronze medalist.
Mika Zibanejad scored twice for the winners. Jonas Brodin and Alexander Wennberg had the other goals.
Trailing 2-1, Sweden came back late in the final period.
Sweden pulled goalie Samuel Ersson for an extra attacker 2:55 before the final whistle and Brodin tied it at 2-2 with a slap shot from the blue line with 2:19 remaining.
Zibanejad netted the winner from the slot 12 seconds later for his second. Wennberg added one more into an empty net.
After losing to Finland 2-1 on Friday, Austria produced another decent performance against a title favorite.
Zibanejad tied it at 1-1 after Benjamin Baumgarten put the Austrians up in the middle period but Marco Kasper restored a one-goal advantage for Austria 2:26 into the final period.
Swiss top Denmark
Last year’s runner up Switzerland rebounded from a 5-4 overtime defeat to the Czech Republic by beating host Denmark 5-2 in the Danish city of Herning.
Captain Nico Hischier and Tyler Moy netted twice and added an assist each, and Damien Riat also had one goal for the Swiss.
Denmark got goals from Oscar Moelgaard and Joachim Blichfeld in their second straight defeat.
Earlier in Herning, Germany routed another newcomer Hungary 6-1 in Group B after Kazakhstan beat Norway 2-1.
Also in Stockholm, Latvia beat France 4-1 in their opening game.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
The Associated Press
