Helsinki, Finland – Stephen Gionta and Bobby Butler scored first-period goals to propel the United States to a 4-2 win over France at the 2013 World Hockey Championship.
Paul Stastny and David Moss put it away for the Americans with third-period goals, as the U.S. improved to 4-1 in Group H play. A total of 10 players collected points for the Americans, while Ben Bishop stopped 15 shots.
France, which pulled off a stunner in its last game on Thursday with a 2-1 win over Russia, fell to 2-3 with Saturday's loss. Kevin Hecquefeuille and Yorick Treille scored in defeat, while Cristobal Huet made 32 saves.
The Americans are second in Group H, trailing only Finland, which has played one more game. The Finns earned a 7-2 win over Austria on Saturday and have 14 points, two more than the United States. The Americans still have games against Germany and Slovakia to conclude Group H play, while Finland won't play again until its round-robin finale against Latvia on Tuesday.
Also Saturday, Switzerland continued its surprising run with a 4-1 win over Denmark to move one point ahead of Canada for first place in Group S. The Swiss pulled out a 3-2 shootout win over Canada earlier in the tournament for the one-point difference, as both nations have two games left in round-robin play.
Sweden also won in Group S with a 2-0 triumph over Slovenia, while Germany took a 2-0 win over Latvia in a Group H game.
The final game of the day saw Norway defeat Belarus, 3-1, in a Group S matchup.
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