Canada beats Denmark and Crosby tallies 4 assists in third-period surge at hockey worlds

FRIBOURG, Switzerland (AP) — Canada scored five goals in the final period against Denmark and Sidney Crosby assisted on four of them in a 5-1 victory at the ice hockey world championship on Monday.

The Group B game in Fribourg was a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal when Denmark stunned star-studded Canada 2-1 and ended its quest for a 29th title.

This time Canada left it till late to translate its dominance into goals.

The Canadians needed 28 shots to break the deadlock despite Denmark goalie Nicolaj Henriksen playing his maiden game at the worlds.

Porter Martone scored the opener 28 seconds into the third period on a cross-goal pass by Crosby to put the favorite ahead.

Gabriel Vilardi doubled the advantage 3:02 into the frame and Denton Mateychuk buried a rebound 31 seconds later to make it 3-0 after Crosby set him up.

Ryan O'Reilly and Parker Wotherspoon finished the scoring with a goal each after Crosby found them unmarked in front of the net.

Teenage captain Macklin Celebrini had two assists and Jet Greaves stopped 15 shots.

Nick Olesen had the lone lone goal for Denmark.

It was the third straight win for Canada after dispatching Sweden 5-3 and Italy 6-0.

Canada next plays Norway on Thursday.

Czechia rebounded from an upset defeat to Slovenia by holding off Sweden 4-3 in Group B for a second win. It was the second loss from three for Sweden, the bronze medalist in the last two years.

The Czechs jumped to 3-0 in the opening 13 minutes before Sweden scored two power play goals to cut their lead to one. Jiří Černoch restored a two-goal advantage in the middle period for the Czechs and Oliver Ekman-Larsson used another power play for Sweden to reduce it to one.

It’s up and down for the defending champion United States at the worlds.

Lenni Hameenaho scored twice and assisted on another one to lead Finland past the U.S. 6-2 for a third straight win in Group A in Zurich.

The U.S. lost to host Switzerland 3-1 in the opener then defeated Britain 5-1.

Hameenaho wristed a shot past goalie Joseph Woll after a turnover to put Finland 1-0 up 6:06 into the game.

The U.S. came back 1:38 later thanks to Matt Coronato's one-timer.

Finland then pulled away with four straight goals.

Patrik Puistola and Aatu Raty scored in the first period followed in the middle period by Hameenaho on a power play and Saku Maenalanen 31 seconds apart.

That forced the U.S. to pull Woll, who allowed five goals from 10 shots, and send on Devin Cooley.

Ryan Leonard reduced the deficit with the second U.S. goal in the final period but Anton Lundell completed the victory.

The U.S. has Germany next on Wednesday.

Host Switzerland also made it three wins from three in the same group with a 6-1 result over winless Germany. Sven Andrighetto scored twice and captain Roman Josi had a goal in his three-point game.

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Czechia's Jakub Flek, right, celebrates his goal 0:3 during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group B game between Sweden and Czech Republic in Fribourg, Switzerland, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

USA's Tommy Novak, right, shoots the puck past Finland's Hannes Bjorninen, left, and Waltteri Merela during the Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round game between Finland and the USA in Zurich, Switzerland, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Claudio Thoma/Keystone via AP)

Finland's Eemil Erholtz, left, shoots on goal against USA's goaltender Devin Cooley, Will Borgen and Connor Clifton, right, during the Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round game between Finland and the USA in Zurich, Switzerland, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Andreas Becker/Keystone via AP)

Canada's Macklin Celebrini, left, and Canada's Sidney Crosby, right, react during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group B game between Canada and Denmark, in Fribourg, Switzerland, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

Canada's Porter Martone, right, celebrates with his teammates after scoring his side's first goal during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group B game between Canada and Denmark, in Fribourg, Switzerland, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Peter Klaunzer/Keystone via AP)

Canada's Parker Wotherspoon, center, celebrates his goal with Canada's Sidney Crosby, left, and Canada's John Tavares, right, during the 2026 IIHF Men's Ice Hockey World Championship preliminary round group B game between Canada and Denmark, in Fribourg, Switzerland, Monday, May 18, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held their fourth meeting in about six months on Tuesday, underscoring their push to deepen ties between the historical Asian rivals in the face of geopolitical challenges.

Lee hosted Takaichi in his hometown of Andong, a southeastern South Korean city famous for a centuries-old traditional folk village that is a UNESCO World Heritage site. In January, the two met in Takaichi’s hometown of Nara, an ancient Japanese capital.

The meetings marked the first time sitting leaders of the two countries have visited each other’s hometowns.

South Korea’s presidential office expressed hope that Tuesday’s summit would strengthen mutual trust between Lee and Takaichi. Takaichi told reporters earlier Tuesday she hopes the talks will deepen cooperation “under the severe geopolitical conditions such as situations in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.”

The summit's official agenda includes economic and energy cooperation, the Iran war and development of their bilateral ties, which have no current sticking points. Experts say the meeting likely will proceed smoothly and the relationship will remain on a positive trajectory for now.

“The two countries put more emphasis on agenda for cooperation than contentious issues,” said Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “They would now think scenes of constantly fluctuating relationship or eventually negative bilateral ties won’t be helpful to anyone now.”

South Korea and Japan are both key U.S. allies with vibrant democracies. But their relationship has long experienced severe ups and downs over grievances stemming from Japan’s 35-year colonization of the Korean Peninsula before the end of World War II.

Relations began improving in 2023 when Lee and Takaichi’s predecessors took steps to move beyond history disputes and strengthen cooperation, saying they faced common challenges like the U.S.-China strategic competition, supply chain vulnerabilities and North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal.

When Lee and Takaichi each took office as new leaders last year, observers worried about Takaichi’s reputation as a right-wing security hawk and anticipation that Lee, a political liberal, would tilt toward North Korea and China and away from the U.S. and Japan. But they have maintained cooperation, even in some unprecedented ways.

In August, two months before Takaichi’s inauguration, Lee became the first South Korean leader to choose Japan as his first destination for a bilateral summit. At the end of their meeting in January, Lee and Takaichi drummed to K-pop hits such as BTS’ “Dynamite” in a jam session arranged by the Japanese leader, a heavy metal fan who was a drummer in her college days.

Lee has said he and Takaichi share a view that national leaders must act differently than ordinary politicians. But many observers say the two leaders also likely feel the need to tighten cooperation because they have more grave geopolitical difficulties than their predecessors such as U.S. President Donald Trump’s America-first policy and global economic damage caused by the Iran war.

South Korea and Japan both have pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. business investments. Trump’s tariff war and his transactional approach to security threaten the trust in the U.S. held by many South Korean and Japanese.

Ties between Seoul and Tokyo are so delicate they could suffer unexpected setbacks if they fail to formulate coping measures for explosive issues such as Japan’s colonial-era mobilization of Koreans as forced laborers and sex slaves, according to experts, who say wrangling over those issues has eased as the two governments try to avoid public discussions.

“Both countries aren’t talking about how to resolve and prevent recurrences of conflicts over those issues and we don’t know when they could occur again,” Choi said.

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, and South Kore's President Lee Jae Myung, third from right, hold their meeting in Andong, South Korea, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, Pool)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, and South Kore's President Lee Jae Myung pose for a photo during their meeting in Andong, South Korea, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, Pool)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, and South Kore's President Lee Jae Myung react during their meeting in Andong, South Korea, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, Pool)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, third from right, is greeted upon arrival at the Daegu International Airport in Daegu, South Korea, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Yoon Kwan-shick/Yonhap via AP)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, center, inspects an honor guard upon arrival at the Daegu International Airport in Daegu, South Korea, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Yoon Kwan-shick/Yonhap via AP)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi waves upon arrival at the Daegu International Airport in Daegu, South Korea, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Yoon Kwan-shick/Yonhap via AP)

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi waves upon arrival at the Daegu International Airport in Daegu, South Korea, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. (Yoon Kwan-shick/Yonhap via AP)

File - Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, left, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung pose as they visit the Western Precinct or Saiin Garan, at the Horyuji Temple in Ikaruga, Nara prefecture, western Japan, Jan. 14, 2026. (Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP, File)