INNSBRUCK, Austria (AP) – Ville Peltonen and Kimmo Timonen scored 3:25 apart in the second period to lift undefeated Finland to a 4-1 victory over winless Ukraine at the hockey world championships on Monday.

Finland (2-0) is atop Group C and will face rival Sweden.

In a Group A matchup in Vienna, Viktor Kozlov of the New Jersey Devils netted a goal with 2:21 left Monday to rally Russia into a 3-3 tie with Slovakia.

Slovakia (1-0-1) took a 3-2 lead on Lubomir Visnovsky’s power-play goal 1:27 into the third period, but Russia (1-0-1) rallied for the key standings point. Slovakia also squandered a 2-0 lead that was built on goals by Los Angeles’ Ziggy Palffy and Marian Hossa of the Ottawa Senators.

Belarus faced Austria in the late game in Vienna.

The United States, which routed Slovenia 7-0 on Sunday, will return to the ice Tuesday against Latvia. Canada will also try to improve to 2-0 when it plays Slovenia in the earlier game in Innsbruck.

The two North American favorites will face off in a key game Thursday that will go a long way in determining positioning for the second round.

Antti-Jussi Niemi gave Finland a 1-0 lead midway through the first period, and former Atlanta forward Tomi Kallio had two assists.

Finland outshot Ukraine 54-21.

Ukraine was whistled for 18 penalty minutes, and clearly annoyed Finland with a rough edge to the game.

“I have no respect for their hockey style,” said Florida’s Olli Jokinen, playing in his eighth world championship. “We were lucky that nobody got hurt. This was not a hockey game – it was a slashing competition. It’s always the same thing when we play them. I’m glad this is over.

“Sweden will be a better game.”

Sweden was the world championships runner-up each of the past two years.

Russia and Slovakia played the best game so far in the first round of the tournament that began Saturday. The game featured more than 20 NHL players and was very much in Slovakia’s favor most of the way until Kozlov got Russia even again.

Palffy gave Slovakia a 1-0 lead at 12:57, knocking in a shot after the puck bounced to him off the boards. Hossa made it a two-goal advantage midway through the game, but Ivan Nepryaev and Andrei Markov scored to get the Russians into a tie before the second period ended.

“I am very happy that my team showed the right spirit,” Russia coach Vladimir Krikunov said. “The character of the team and their will to come back prove so-called experts wrong that we were not a real team, but a bunch of stars.”

The third period was sloppy and the game lost its fast pace because of rapidly worsening ice conditions. Passes missed their targets and the puck was bouncing instead of sliding.

“This is the worst ice I have ever played on,” said Miroslav Satan, who played for the Buffalo Sabres before the NHL lockout that canceled the entire 2004-05 season.

—

Associated Press writer Harry Miltner in Vienna contributed to this report.

AP-ES-05-02-05 1618EDT