TAMPERE, Finland (AP) — Canada was on the ice until nearly midnight to extend its perfect start at the world hockey championships by beating Kazakhstan 6-3 after a fire at the rink played havoc with the schedule on Thursday.
A small fire at the Helsinki Ice Hall set off the alarms shortly before Germany and Denmark were due to start their afternoon game. The arena was evacuated and players were shown waiting outside wearing full uniforms and skates.
The International Ice Hockey Federation said no one was hurt, but the incident still pushed back the Germany-Denmark start and the following Canada-Kazakhstan game.
Buffalo Sabres forward Dylan Cozens had a hat trick in Canada’s fourth win from four games. Still, it wasn’t easy against winless Kazakhstan, which briefly had the lead twice in the first period and made it a one-goal game with 12 minutes to go in the third before Cozens scored Canada’s fifth goal and then added an empty-netter.
The United States also needed time to find its groove against a winless team as it beat Britain 3-0. The U.S. was scoreless in the first period and committed four penalties before Ben Meyers gave the U.S. the lead midway through the second. Kieffer Bellows scored two power-play goals in the third.
Germany edged out Denmark 1-0 for its third win and the Czech Republic swept aside Latvia 5-1 to start its recovery from a surprise loss to Austria.
