MINSK, Belarus -- Defending champion Sweden made the first step in its title defence with a 3-0 victory over Denmark at the ice hockey world championship on Saturday. Marcus Semien Jersey . Calgary Flames forward Mikael Backlund scored twice in the opening period when the Swedes displayed fast, well organized play that was tough for Denmark to match. "It was nice to have a few goals right away, keep the pressure off and the nerves away," Backlund said. Another Scandinavian superpower, Finland, began its campaign with an upset 3-2 loss to Latvia and Norway blanked Italy 3-0 while Germany prevailed in a shootout to beat Kazakhstan 2-1. Backlund scored his first for Sweden when defenceman Markus Lauridsen deflected his shot to the net with his skate and struck again by precisely directing Joakim Lindstroms slap shot. Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist added the third on a solo effort after intercepting a pass. "Once we got up two to nothing we stopped taking the puck to the net," Nyquist said. "We tried to make too many passes instead of shooting the puck." Latvia failed to capitalize on its second-period power plays when a total of seven Finns were in the penalty box. Finland used its only power play in that period to go 2-1 up with a goal by Petri Kontiola. Kristaps Sotnieks tied the match for Latvia -- the quarterfinalist in the Sochi Winter Olympics -- in the third before Arturs Kulda netted the winner on a power play. It was the first victory for Latvia over Finland at the worlds. Thomas Oppenheimer scored the decisive goal in the shootout to give Germany the win. Germany outshot its opponent 47-20 but Kazakhstan went ahead 1-0 after a goal from Andrei Gavrilin. The Germans answered through Matthias Plachta at the end of the first period. "I have to look at the positive," German coach Pat Cortina said. "We put the puck to the net and that is extremely important for our team." Niklas Roest opened the scoring in the first period for Norway, Morten Ask made it 2-0 midway through the game and captain Anders Bastiansen rounded off the victory on a breakaway in the third. "I tried to shoot early to surprise the goalie and it went in, so I was really happy," Bastiansen said. "We did a good job. We won and thats the most important thing." Goaltender Lars Haugen made 15 saves for the shutout, but needed help from his posts on two shots by defenceman Daniel Sullivan in the second. "We had a little difficulty in the beginning, adjusting to the speed," Italy coach Tom Pokel said. "However, as the game went on we got better and better. So it was a good game for us." Italy and Kazakhstan are both newcomers to the top division this year. Later Saturday, Canada hopes to rebound from Fridays 3-2 loss to France with a win against Slovakia, while the United States faces Switzerland a day after it routed host Belarus 6-1. Andrew Triggs Jersey . However, the 38-year-old is in no hurry to sign with another team. "Im not in a rush. This will be my last contract, so I want to do it right," said Burris on Thursday. Jose Canseco Jersey . Here at TSN.ca we will take a look back at the season by bringing together a panel of experts to help pick the best 50 players of the season. http://www.authenticbaseshopathletics.com/Walt-Weiss-Jersey/ . About seven hours before facing Washington in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference second round series, team officials said the oft-injured Bynum would miss the rest of the playoffs and would not even be with the team for the rest of the post-season.SOCHI, Russia -- Mark Arendz recorded a first for Canada on the opening day of competition at the Paralympic Winter Games. The 24-year-old from Hartsville, P.E.I., won a silver medal Saturday in the biathlon, the first Canadian ever to do so in the event. Arendz finished just .07 seconds behind gold medallist Vladislav Lekomtcev of Russia, who posted a winning time of 19 minutes 3.7 seconds. Russian Azat Karachurin finished third in 19:14.9. Arendzs coach, Robin McKeever, guided his brother and 10-time Paralympic medallist, Brian, to Canadas only other Paralympic medal in biathlon. They captured a bronze medal in the visually impaired 7.5-kilometre sprint discipline at the 2006 Paralympics in Turin, Italy. "It feels absolutely great and a big relief to get on the podium right away," said a beaming Arendz. "I fought as hard as I could, and it was such a close race at the end." It was one of three medals for Canada on the day. Josh Dueck of Kimberley B.C., also earned a silver medal in the mens downhill sit-ski. Mac Marcoux of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and guide Robin Femy of Mont-Tremblant, Que., claimed a bronze in the mens visually-impaired downhill. Dueck won his medal on the 10th anniversary of the freestyle skiing accident that landed him in a wheelchair. It was his second Paralympic medal after claiming a silver in slalom at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games. "This is fantastic," Dueck said. "Im really about performance, and I took a fast line down the hill and took some chances and I got pretty lucky. "I crossed the line and was thrilled. Second is awesome." Kurt Oatway, of Calgary and Caleb Brousseau,, of Terrace, B. Kendall Graveman Jersey. C., were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the sit-ski category. Also, the Canadian sledge hockey team opened with a convincing 10-1 win over Sweden. Anthony Gale of Brampton, Ont., and Adam Dixon of Midland, Ont., led the way with two goals and two assists apiece. The Canadian team returns to action Sunday facing Norway. Four years ago, the Norwegians nipped Canada to win the bronze medal in Vancouver. And in wheelchair curling, Canada, the defending world champion, earned wins of 6-3 over Great Britain and 5-4 versus host Russia. The Canadians take on Sweden on Sunday. Arendz was fourth midway through the race but shot clean in his second stop at the range to begin his successful charge to a podium finish. "The plan was to shoot clean and I was focused on following that, but I missed that one target just slightly," said Arendz. "I thought I had it but a twitch of the finger and I just missed it. "I wasnt far off. I told myself to fight hard on that penalty loop to get over the penalty and finish strong." The course was slushy because of the warm weather, which created challenges for Arendz. "It is so warm and not really winter-like conditions so the course was really slowing down out there," he said. "The guys in the wax room did a great job on the skis. "I will celebrate this one with them." Russias Alena Kaufman shot clean en route to winning the womens standing class race. Caroline Bisson of Ottawa finished 14th. Margarita Gorbounova, also of Ottawa, and her guide, Andrea Bundon of Regina, were seventh in the six-kilometre womens visually impaired race. Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '