Belarus, France earn QF berths at Worlds

Minsk, Belarus (SportsNetwork.com) – Belarus and France clinched quarterfinal berths at the 2014 World Hockey Championship on Monday.

Geoff Platt and Mikhail Grabovski scored 33 seconds apart in the first period as the host nation went on to beat Latvia 3-1. The win booked Belarus’ first spot in the round of eight since 2009.

Belarus is second behind undefeated Russia in Group B with 12 points, one more than the United States and Finland.

The Finns stayed alive for a place in the quarterfinals with a 4-3 win over Kazakhstan in their last preliminary round game. Finland is two points ahead of Latvia, which will play Switzerland on Tuesday.

France earned its first berth in the knockout round in 19 years with a 6-2 win over Denmark in Group A play. Cristobal Huet made 31 saves and Stephane da Costa scored two of France’s four third-period goals.

Linus Klasen collected four assists and the Swedes topped Italy 5-1 in their round-robin finale.

Sweden sits atop Group A with 18 points, three clear of Canada.

The Canadians, however, can clinch first place with a regulation win over Norway on Tuesday because they hold the tiebreaker after beating Sweden earlier in the tournament.

Categorized in: NHL