MILAN, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Elias Pettersson scored twice as Sweden held off Slovakia 5-3 while Latvia fought back to beat Germany 4-3 in the fourth day of the men's Olympic ice hockey tournament on Saturday.
The forwards Joel Eriksson Ek, Adrian Kempe and Lucas Raymond each added goals for Sweden, as both Sweden and Slovakia finished the preliminary stage with two wins and a loss in a competitive Group B.
Group B will wrap up later on Saturday with Finland hoping to pick up a second win when they face the hosts Italy, who are winless.
The winners of each of the three preliminary groups and the next best overall team automatically advance to the quarter-finals in Milan while the remaining teams compete in a single-elimination qualification playoff.
SWEDEN PUSH PAST SLOVAKIA
Eriksson Ek nudged the puck over the line for a short-handed goal in the eighth minute at Santagiulia arena but Slovakian forward Juraj Slafkovsky levelled it less than two minutes later with a slapshot from the right wing.
Kempe scored four seconds into a power play midway through the second, putting the puck under the Slovakian goalie's glove, but defenceman Martin Gernat answered less thanthree minutes later, sending the puck zipping by the Swedish goalie's right skate for the equaliser.
Pettersson made it 3-2 for Sweden with a five-hole shot late in the second and Raymond found Pettersson on the back post eight minutes into the third before burying one in the net himself. Dalibor Dvorsky scored for Slovakia in the final minute of competition, improving the goal differential as fans eagerly await the final Group B standings.
LATVIA BEAT GERMANY
Latvia twice fell behind to goals from Lukas Reichel and Lukas Kalble, with Dans Locmelis levelling both times. Final period goals by Eduards Tralmaks and Renars Krastenbergs had the Latvians cruising until Tim Stutzle scored late for Germany.
Down 0-1, Latvia levelled with a power play goal four minutes from the end of the opening period, Locmelis hovering near the post and slamming home Zemgus Girgensons' pass but Germany took just over a minute to retake the lead through Kalble. Playing with a 5-on-3 advantage, Locmelis equalised again, slamming the puck into the roof of the net and Latvia went in front through Tralmaks just after killing a penalty. Krastenbergs gave Latvia a two-goal cushion with less than nine minutes remaining but had to hang on in the closing stages when the Germans pulled their goalie and Stutzle netted with over two minutes left.
Latvia wrap up the first round of their Milan campaign on Sunday with a Group C game against Denmark.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery and Trevor Stynes in Milan;Editing by Alison Williams)
