Perfect Finland thrash hapless France in ice hockey

Defending champions and co-hosts of the world ice hockey championship Finland thrashed France 7-1 here on Thursday to move top of their group and maintain their perfect record. Jarkko Immonen put Finland in the lead halfway into the first period on powerplay scoring on Janne Pesonen\'s pass from behind the goal line. In the second Finland were in complete command and their skipper Mikko Koivu made it 2-0 while Carolina Hurricanes forward Jussi Jokkinen, Janne Niskala and Niko Kapanen added further goals to leave Finland with a commanding 5-0 lead. Petri Vehanen lost a shutout 3:34 into the third period when Anthony Guttig scored his powerplay goal but Finland added two more to put the French firmly in their place. \"We started well tonight,\" said Finland coach Jukka Jalonen. \"But the second period was our period. We controlled the game and scored four goals and that was decisive.\" Meanwhile in Stockholm the 2010 champions the Czech Republic battled back from a goal down to beat Latvia 3-1 to leapfrog the former Soviet republic in their group table into third place. After a goalless first period Latvia\'s center Armands Berzins lifted his side 1-0 up sending the puck home from Ronalds Kenins precise cross at 23:55. Czechs poured into attack and levelled five minutes later through Milan Michalek, who swept in a rebound from Jakub Naklada\'s shot. In the third the Czech Republic stepped up a gear and grabbed the lead through Petr Nedved, who scored at 50:50 after beating Latvia\'s defence on a breakaway. Czech skipper Tomas Plekanec netted his powerplay insurance goal with 6:38 to go to settle affairs. In the early Helsinki group match the United States, seeking their first world title since 1960, defeated Belarus 5-3 leaving the former Soviet republic with only a slim mathematical chance of a place in the play-off round. The Americans got off to a lively start breaking the ice 1:39 into the match when Detroit Red Wings left wing Justin Abdelkader redirected J.T. Brown\'s cross into the net. Columbus Blue Jackets winger Cam Atkinson made it 2-0 for the Americans five minutes later forcing the Belarus coach to substitute the goalkeeper Andrei Mezin for Vitai Koval. Belarus pulled the scores level through Alexei Kalyuzhny, who reduced the arrears with 3:45 remaining in the first period and Alexei Ugarov, who levelled 2:50 into the second on powerplay. However, Tampa Bay Lightning center Nate Thompson, Ananheim Ducks\' Bobby Ryan and Colorado Avalance forward Paul Stastny all scored to see the Americans home. \"We made a good start to the game going 2-0 up but later lost some momentum because of penalties,\" team USA manager Scott Gordon said. \"Luckily in the third period we scored twice to win the game.\" Russia meanwhile were in control against Denmark in the early Stockholm match winning 3-1 to take them to a haul of 12 points in four matches and join co-hosts Sweden on top of their group.