A trio of Adler Mannheim players almost help Germany to an upset over Sweden in Prague, while a pair of Karpat Oulu snipers do contribute to a Finnish rout of Slovenia in Ostrava. 

by Derek O'Brien, with contributions from Staff Writers

PRAGUE and OSTRAVA – Four more games were on the World Championship schedule on Thursday, all of which had clear favourites. In three cases the favourites won, but there was one upset as well.

In Prague, the host Czech team took to the ice as clear favourites over France and did the expected, skating to a 5–1 victory. Sweden was likewise heavily favoured over Germany and they also escaped with three points, but just barely. For the third time in four games, the Swedes let a lead of two or more goals get away, but they eventually won 4–3, as Linkoping HC's Mattias Sjogren added an assist and now has five points. 

For Germany, ERC Ingolstadt's Timo Pielmeier stopped 31 of 35 shots and the Adler Mannheim trio of Mathias Plachta, Marcus Kink and Kai Hospeldt each contributed a point.

“I think today we did the small things well, played good defence like in the last game against Switzerland, had a little bit of luck with the puck and that brings confidence back to the team to score goals,” Hospeldt said afterward. “The power play was good, and we did well shorthanded. It's a good thing to build from.”  

Meanwhile in Ostrava, Belarus handed the Americans their first loss of the tournament, 5–2, while leap-frogging two teams into first place in Group B with 10 points. In the nightcap, Finland beat Slovenia 4–0, creating a three-way tie for second between the Americans, Finns and Russians with nine points each. The Finnish Player of the Game was Karpat Oulu's Joonas Donskoi, who was flashy all game and led the rush that resulted in Finland's third goal, picking up an assist on Aleksander Barkov's rebound goal. 

“I think it's getting better all the time, I think our line's getting better together,” the 23-year-old winger said about his first World Championship, and about playing with linemates Barkov and Jussi Jokinen. “I've played with (Joonas Kemppainen) two years in Karpat, but I wasn't really expecting anything here. I'm just happy to be on the team.”

Kemppainen, meanwhile, picked up a goal and an assist on Thursday and now leads all CHL players in the tournament with seven points: