Canada cruises past Hungary

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Canada routed Hungary 7-1 at the world championship on Sunday for its second win of the tournament.

After ending the first period up 2-1, Canada took total control in the second with four straight goals in less than six minutes against a Hungarian team that has no NHL players and is only in its second world championship since 1939.

After the first period, "we knew we had to be a little bit better, a little bit sharper with the puck," Canada captain Corey Perry said. "We talked about it each and every game, getting better in every period of every game, and I thought we did that in the second and third."

Seven players scored Canada's goals, with Brad Marchand scoring his second goal of the tournament.

"It's definitely something that we enjoy seeing, all four lines getting in on the action," Perry said.

The win follows an opening 5-1 victory over the U.S. and puts Canada at the top of the standings in the St. Petersburg group for the preliminary round.

Finland is also 2-0 for the tournament after it beat Germany 5-1, with two goals and an assist for highly rated 18-year-old Patrik Laine, who is widely expected to be the No. 2 NHL draft pick next month behind American Auston Matthews.

The U.S. plays Finland on Monday, coming off Friday's loss to Canada and a 6-3 win over Belarus on Saturday.

While there's no personal rivalry with Matthews, who scored two goals for the U.S. against Belarus, Laine is aiming to beat him to the No. 1 draft spot.

"The people in the stands can think about those things, I just want to play hockey," Laine said. "Of course I want to prove to everybody that I can play at this level, like this, against those top countries, and of course I want to be the top pick."

Finland beat the U.S. 3-2 in an exhibition game before the tournament.

"When you look at their power play and the guys that they can put out on the power play, whether it's in the exhibition or game or even the other night vs. Belarus, it's deadly, so our discipline is going to be important, special teams will be key," U.S. coach John Hynes said.

"I think they're a complete team but they have a lot of firepower up front so we have to make sure that we eliminate time and space when we don't have the puck."

In Moscow, Chicago Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin was injured as host nation Russia's struggles continued in a tighter-than-expected 6-4 win against underdog Kazakhstan.

Russia, which had lost its opener 3-0 to the Czech Republic on Friday, was level with Kazakhstan at 4-4 early in the third on an off-form day for goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who allowed four goals from 19 shots.

Former Edmonton Oilers defenseman Anton Belov was Russia's hero with two goals, including the game-winner, and two assists.

Panarin seemed to hurt his left shoulder in a hard collision with the boards in the second period and did not play in the third. Russia coach Oleg Znarok told local media that Panarin was "OK," without providing further details.

Switzerland suffered its second loss in two games when it was beaten 4-3 by Norway in overtime.