Montreal, QC (My Sportsbook) - Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning posted a goal and an assist to lead Canada over the United States, 2-1, at the Bell Centre in a first-round match of the 2004 World Cup of Hockey tournament.

At 16:01 of the first period, Canada opened the scoring on the power and led the rest of the way. On a give-and-go with Boston's Joe Thornton, St. Louis beat goaltender Robert Esche, who had no chance.

Then just 3:05 into the second period, Joe Sakic pushed the Canadian advantage to 2-0 on a slap shot that deflected in off of Chris Drury's leg.

At 10:40 of the second, the U.S. cracked the scoreboard as Bill Guerin of the Dallas Stars beat Canadian netminder Martin Brodeur, courtesy of a wrist shot.

The U.S. was outshot 32-24 by the Canadiens.

The Americans defeated Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey final and the heated rivalry picked up between these neighboring countries when Canada beat the U.S. for the gold medal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City.

The Americans will next face Russia on Thursday night, while Canada returns to the ice one night earlier versus Slovakia.

In the earlier game of the day, Fredrik Modin posted a goal and two assists, leading Sweden to a 5-2 win over Germany at Globe Arena in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey tournament.

Tomas Holmstrom, Mats Sundin, Kim Johnsson and Marcus Nilson each contributed a goal and an assist for Sweden, which will next play the Czech Republic on Wednesday afternoon. The Czechs were blanked by Finland, 4-0, on Monday.

Marco Sturm and Daniel Kreutzer both notched shorthanded goals in a losing effort for the Germans, who are slated to face Finland on Thursday.

Holmstrom's power-play goal late in the opening period gave heavily-favored Sweden a 1-0 lead. Holmstrom fought for a pass in front of Olaf Kolzig and needed a few whacks at the puck to light the lamp with 3:20 remaining in the period.

Kolzig stopped 37 of the 42 shots he faced.

The underdog Germans, however, evened the score at the 17:53 mark courtesy of Sturm's shorthanded tally. Johnsson lost control of the puck at center ice and Sturm took over. He hustled toward Tommy Salo and snapped the puck high over the netminder's pads.

Sweden wasted no time grabbing a 2-1 lead as Sundin found the back of the net 1:59 into the second period. Sundin was stationed in the slot and backhanded the puck past Kolzig's glove. The puck appeared to have been deflected by a German defender before sailing into the cage.

Johnsson made up for his early blunder with a goal, pushing Sweden's lead to 3-1. Daniel Alfredsson notched his second assist of the game with a cross-ice feed to Johnsson, who tipped the puck past Kolzig at 7:26 of the second period.

Nilson's one-timer midway through the period made it 4-1. He skated with the puck along the right boards and dumped it in to Sundin between the circles. Sundin then shoveled a pass back to Nilson, who fired the puck past Kolzig at the 11:51 mark.

Germany netted another shorthanded goal with seven minutes left, this time from Kreutzer. Kreutzer unloaded a slap shot from above the left circle and the puck glanced off Salo's glove before wobbling into the net. Salo ended with 17 saves.

Sweden continued to pester Kolzig as Modin deflected a pass in front through the goaltender's legs for a 5-2 advantage. Modin captured a Stanley Cup championship with the Tampa Bay Lightning in June.

The Germans had a goal waived off with less than two minutes to go because Eduard Lewandowski placed the puck in the net with his hand.