Germany forward Elias Schneider, right, and United States defenseman and Sabres prospect Adam Kleber (6) compete for the puck during the third period of an IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship game on Friday in St. Paul, Minn. AP photo

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Will Zellers scored twice and added an assist as the United States beat Germany 6-3 in both team’s opening game of the World Junior Championships on Friday.

Zellers scored twice in the second period, picking up assists from Anthony Spellacy on both goals.

Max Plante opened the scoring for the back-to-back defending champions, finishing a rebound from a Teddy Stiga shot 5:34 into the first period.

Zellers and Brandon McMorrow assisted Chase Reid on a second goal midway through the first period before Will Horcoff netted a third with 4:05 remaining in the period.

Germany cut a three-goal deficit to two when Timo Kose scored with 2:21 left in the first period.

They cut that two-goal deficit to one on two occasions in the second period. Simon Seidl and Lenny Boos both scored in the second period, with Dustin Willhoft assisting on both efforts. Zellers’ goals created a two-goal cushion for the US each time.

Cole Eiserman’s goal with 1:53 left in the second period re-established the three-goal lead.

The US has now outscored Germany 44-12 in the last six meetings. They are seeking to become the first team to win three consecutive world junior titles since Canada won five straight from 2005 to 2009.

Both teams will continue Group A play on Saturday. Germany faces Slovakia and the US faces Switzerland.

STENBERG LIFTS SWEDES

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Ivar Stenberg had two points and scored the winning goal with 3:57 remaining in the third period as Sweden held off Slovakia 3-2 in the opening contest of the 2026 World Junior Championships.

Stenberg was assisted by Eddie Genborg, finishing a backhand goal around Slovakia’s Alan Lendak.

Anton Frondell also had two points for Sweden, scoring the opening goal and assisting Victor Eklund on the second.

After a scoreless first period, Sweden used a couple of power plays to take a 2-0 lead in the second period. Frondell scored the opener at the 9:05 mark, finishing a slap shot from the center of a face-off circle, with assists from Alfons Freij and Stenberg. More than four minutes later, Frondell and Jack Berglund assisted Eklund on a goal from just outside the crease.

Slovakia responded late in the period with a power play goal of its own, on a 5-3 man advantage. Tomas Pobezal used an assist from Alex Misiak to cut the deficit in half with five seconds left in the period. It came seconds after Pobezal hit the post, the fourth time Slovakia hit the post at that point.

Viggo Bjorck had a would-be shorthanded goal for Sweden taken off the board less than five minutes into the third period. He took the puck from inside his own blue line to beat Alan Lendak, but collided with Lendak, and a challenge from Slovakia saw the goal taken off the board for goaltender interference.

In the third period, a turnover by Sweden in front of its own net ended up on the stick of Tobias Pitka, who slid the puck to Tobias Tomik, scoring it to even the game 9:05 into the period.

Slovakia has not beaten Sweden since the 2015 World Junior bronze medal game. Both of these teams continue their Group A play over the weekend, with Slovakia taking on Germany on Saturday, and Sweden facing Switzerland on Sunday.

FINLAND CRUISES PAST DENMARK

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jasper Kuhta led Finland with three assists, including two on goals from Roope Vesterinen in a 6-2 win over Denmark in each team’s opening game of the world junior championships.

Kuhta was one of five players to finish with at least two points for Finland — and 12 with at least one point — along with Vesterinen, Aron Kiviharju, Lasse Boelius and Leo Tuuva. Kuhta and Tuuva both assisted Vesterinen inside the first two minutes to open the scoring, and Onni Kalto scored a second goal 30 seconds later.

After William Bundgaard scored for Denmark 6:08 into the first period, Oliver Suvanto responded with a power play goal for Finland four minutes later. Finland — last year’s silver medalist — had 20 shots on goal to Denmark’s two in the opening period.

Aatos Koivu, Joona Saarelainen and Vesterinen all scored in the second period to put Finland up 6-1 with 8:39 remaining in the period.

Anton Linde scored a power play goal for Denmark 2:22 into the third period. Anton Wilde saved 37 shots for Denmark on 43 attempts (0.860 save percentage).

Denmark returned to the top division of the world junior championships for the first time since 2019, after earning promotion by winning the Division I-A tournament over Austria last year.

Both teams will continue Group B play over the weekend. Denmark will face Czechia on Saturday, while Finland will take on Latvia on Sunday.