Ice hockey-Sweden hold off Slovakia, Latvia beat Germany

MILAN, Feb 14 : Elias Pettersson scored twice as Sweden held off Slovakia 5-3 while Latvia fought back to beat Germany 4-3 in the fourth day of the men's Olympic ice hockey tournament on Saturday.

The forwards Joel Eriksson Ek, Adrian Kempe and Lucas Raymond each added goals for Sweden, as both Sweden and Slovakia finished the preliminary stage with two wins and a loss in a competitive Group B. 

Group B will wrap up later on Saturday with Finland hoping to pick up a second win when they face the hosts Italy, who are winless.

The winners of each of the three preliminary groups and the next best overall team automatically advance to the quarter-finals in Milan while the remaining teams compete in a single-elimination qualification playoff.

SWEDEN PUSH PAST SLOVAKIA

Eriksson Ek nudged the puck over the line for a short-handed goal in the eighth minute at Santagiulia arena but Slovakian forward Juraj Slafkovsky levelled it less than two minutes later with a slapshot from the right wing.

Kempe scored four seconds into a power play midway through the second, putting the puck under the Slovakian goalie's glove, but defenceman Martin Gernat answered less than three minutes later, sending the puck zipping by the Swedish goalie's right skate for the equaliser. 

Pettersson made it 3-2 for Sweden with a five-hole shot late in the second and Raymond found Pettersson on the back post eight minutes into the third before burying one in the net himself. Dalibor Dvorsky scored for Slovakia in the final minute of competition, improving the goal differential as fans eagerly await the final Group B standings.

LATVIA BEAT GERMANY

Latvia twice fell behind to goals from Lukas Reichel and Lukas Kalble, with Dans Locmelis levelling both times. Final