Canada beats U.S. despite Esche's heroics

Associated Press

Martin St. Louis had a goal and an assist to lead Canada to a 2-1 victory last night over the United States in a World Cup of Hockey game in Montreal.

The game was fast-paced and full of hard hitting, and featured stellar play by Canada goalie Martin Brodeur and American Robert Esche, of the Flyers.

Joe Sakic also scored for Canada, which controlled the game at both ends of the ice for the first 25 minutes before the United States took back the momentum.

Bill Guerin scored for the United States, which beat Canada, 5-2, in the final of the inaugural World Cup in 1996.

"They came out hungrier than we were, way more intense," U.S. coach Ron Wilson said. "Fortunately, Robert Esche was on top of things...we needed our goaltender to keep us in there."

Canada beat the United States in the gold-medal game of the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

In another game:

• At Stockholm, Sweden, Mats Sundin had a goal and two assists and Flyers defenseman Kim Johnsson scored a goal as Sweden beat Germany, 5-2.