MONTREAL - Alexander Nylander had two goals and an assist to lift Sweden to a 3-1 victory over winless Finland on Thursday night at the world junior hockey championship.
Lias Andersson also scored for Sweden (3-0-0), which ends preliminary round play Saturday against the Czech Republic (1-0-2).
Aapeli Rasanen scored for the defending champion Finns (0-3-0), who need Switzerland to lose to Denmark (1-1-1) on Friday and then beat the Swiss on Saturday to reach the quarter-finals.
Sweden has won 39 consecutive group stage games since an overtime loss to the United States in 2007, but they lost to Finland in the semifinals at last year's tournament and in the 2014 final.
Finland played desperate hockey and outshot Sweden 29-20, but inexperience and often disjointed play has dogged them from their opening-game loss to the Czechs. And Swedish goalie Felix Sandstrom had an outstanding game.
It was an eventful outing for Rasmus Dahlin, the 16-year-old Swedish defenceman pegged as a possible first overall NHL draft pick in 2018. He barely played in the first period, but when he got on, he lost the puck to Otto Koivula and tripped the Finnish forward. Rasanen scored on the ensuing power play at 16:35 as he fired in Eeli Tolvanen's feed from the slot.
