Hockey World Championship 2019 Results: Canada Wins, Kaapo Kakko Scores 6th Goal

Canada overcame an unexpected challenge from France on Thursday to pick up its third straight win at the 2019 IIHF Hockey World Championship in Slovakia. 

Fellow medal contenders Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic also picked up victories on Day 7 of the tournament. All 16 countries have now completed four of their seven group matches.

Let's check out the complete set of scores from Thursday's play. That's followed by a recap of the action.

May 16 Results

Group A: Canada 5, France 2

Group B: Sweden 9, Austria 1

Group A: Finland 3, Denmark 1

Group B: Czech Republic 6, Latvia 3

Visit the IIHF's official website to see the updated standings for pool play.

Canada 5, France 2

Canada scored three unanswered goals in the first period to set the stage for a blowout. Instead, France held the high-powered Canadian offense off the scoreboard for a 32-minute stretch, including the entire second period, while trimming the lead to one early in the third.

The Detroit Red Wings' Anthony Mantha and Vegas Golden Knights' Mark Stone scored two minutes apart midway through the final period to end Canada's drought and regain firm control of the contest. But it was a far more hard-fought game than anticipated against one of the tournament's long shots.

Mantha, the Edmonton Oilers' Darnell Nurse and Tampa Bay Lightning's Anthony Cirelli scored the first-period goals for Canada.

France captain Damien Fleury and Anthony Rech found the net for Les Bleus.

The French squad's search for its first win of the tourney will continue Friday against host nation Slovakia. Canada is back on the ice Saturday to face unbeaten Germany.

Sweden 9, Austria 1

Nine different players lit the lamp for Sweden as the Three Crowns cruised past winless Austria.

Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks), Gabriel Landeskog (Colorado Avalanche) and Elias Lindholm (Calgary Flames) each recorded one goal and two assists for a team-high three points. New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 21 saves to pick up the win.

Michael Raffl of the Philadelphia Flyers, the only NHL player on Austria's roster, scored the Eagles' goal.

Austria will battle Norway on Friday with one team guaranteed to earn their first victory. Sweden is set to take on undefeated Switzerland on Saturday.

Finland 3, Denmark 1

Kaapo Kakko continued to build his case to overtake the United States' Jack Hughes as the top prospect in the 2019 NHL draft with his sixth goal of the tournament to keep Finland second in Group A.

Sakari Manninen and Harri Pesonen joined Kakko on the score sheet for the Finns. It was a strong bounce-back performance after dropping their previous game 3-2 in overtime against the U.S.

Morten Madsen scored the only goal for Denmark.

Kakko has a golden opportunity to continue his scoring barrage Friday as Great Britain, which has allowed 26 goals in four games, is next up for Finland. Denmark faces Team USA on Saturday.

Czech Republic 6, Latvia 3

Latvia carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, but the Czechs stormed back with four goals in the second period to build an advantage they'd never relinquish.

Flyers star Jakub Voracek paced the Czech Republic with two goals. Filip Hronek (Red Wings), Jakub Vrana (Washington Capitals), Dominik Simon (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Jan Kovar also scored en route to the comeback victory.

Captain Lauris Darziņs netted two goals for the Latvians, while Miks Indrasis had the other.

The Czech Republic takes on cellar-dwelling Italy on Friday. Latvia faces another uphill battle Saturday when it challenges red-hot Russia.