Montreal, QC (My Sportsbook) - Ryan Smyth registered a pair of goals as Canada coasted to an easy 5-1 victory over Slovakia in front of a sellout Bell Centre crowd at the World Cup of Hockey.

Martin St. Louis tallied a goal and an assist for the second straight game and Martin Brodeur made 24 saves to clinch his second win in as many nights. Joe Thornton and Simon Gagne also scored in the victory.

Canada improved to 2-0 in the opening round after Tuesday's 2-1 win over the United States. Sweden defeated the Czech Republic, 4-3, earlier in the day and is now 2-0 in the European Pool.

Not all the news was good for Team Canada, however, as defenseman Wade Redden left the game in the third period with an undisclosed injury, further weakening the team's blueline. Before the game, the Canadians learned they would be without Ed Jovanovski for the remainder of the tourney due to a sprained knee and cracked rib suffered in the win over the U.S.

The injury-plagued Slovaks (0-1), playing their first-ever game in World Cup competition, were without big guns Peter Bondra and Zigmund Palffy as well as Michal Handzus and Richard Zednik, who missed the game with food poisoning.

They made a surprising move, starting Rastislav Stana in goal instead of No. 1 netminder Jan Lasak.

Stana got off to a rough start, beaten by Thornton just over three minutes into the game. Defenseman Zdeno Chara was stripped of the puck in front of his own net, and Thornton buried a shot past Stana for a 1-0 lead.

Smyth scored his first of the night 1:41 later coming out from behind the net and Gagne made it 3-0 at 4:03 of the second on a nifty feed from St. Louis.

St. Louis, the NHL's scoring leader and Hart Trophy winner last season, increased the lead to 4-0 with a power-play marker in the first minute of the third period off a feed from his Tampa Bay teammate Brad Richards.

Martin Cibak got a goal back for Slovakia, scoring just inside the five-minute mark to trim the deficit to 4-1.

Smyth capped the scoring 7:11 into the final period, slamming home a rebound of a shot by Vincent Lecavalier, who finished with two assists.

Stana ended up with 30 saves on the 35 shots he faced.

The Swedes improved to 2-0 in the round-robin portion of the tournament, but not before nearly blowing a 4-0 lead against the Czechs in the third period.

The Czechs scored three goals in the third, then had a power play in the final two minutes of the game, but could not convert and fell to 0-2.

Finland blanked the Czech Republic on just 12 shots in the opening game of the tournament on Monday, and the Czechs again looked lethargic in falling behind 4-0 through two periods on Wednesday.

However, goals by Martin Rucinsky and Marek Zidlicky in the first 5:13 of the third trimmed the deficit in half. Patrik Elias then scored with 5:36 remaining to pull the Czechs within one.

A penalty against Sweden with under two minutes to play gave the Czechs a power play, and they had a couple of good chances turned aside by Swedish goaltender Mikael Tellqvist in the closing seconds.

Tellqvist stopped Zidlicky from in close with 31 seconds left and made a nice glove save on a shot from the right circle by Elias with 20 ticks remaining.

Fredrik Modin, Peter Forsberg and Mattias Ohlund also scored for Sweden, which may have been somewhat tired in the third period after beating Germany 5-2 on Tuesday.

The Swedes grabbed a 1-0 lead with just over eight minutes left in the opening period, as Modin scored his second goal of the tournament.

The Czechs took a pair of penalties early in the second period and Sweden made them pay both times.

Forsberg, who hit the post early in the first period, gave his team a two-goal edge at the 2:51 mark of the second when he converted a cross-crease pass from Tomas Holmstrom. The Czechs had lost the puck behind their own net, setting up a two-on-none in front.

Ohlund then made it 3-0 just over 90 seconds later on another power play. The Swedes worked the puck free in the right corner and Daniel Alfredsson came away with it behind the net. The Ottawa Senators captain fired a pass across the top of the crease to an unchecked Ohlund, who snapped a shot from the left circle past Tomas Vokoun.

Sweden cashed in another power play midway through the second period when Henrik Zetterberg backhanded home the rebound of a Kim Johnsson shot from the left point.

The Swedes killed off a two-man advantage late in the second to keep the Czechs scoreless.

The Czechs made it interesting with a pair of goals just 61 seconds apart early in the third period, as Rucinsky tipped in a Martin Havlat shot and Zidlicky blasted the puck home from the right circle.

Elias pulled the Czech Republic within one with a highlight reel goal with just over 5 1/2 minutes remaining. He gained control of a rebound just below the left circle, then backhanded a shot between his own skates and through the legs of Tellqvist.

Thursday's action pits Russia against Team USA at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild, while Finland visits Germany on the European side.