SYDNEY, Nova Scotia -- Alexander Ovechkin scored three goals to lead defending champion Russia over the United States 5-1 Thursday in Pool A play of the World Junior Hockey Championships.

Kirill Koltsov and Yuri Trubachev also scored for Russia.

Patrick O'Sullivan scored for the United States, which finished fifth last year.

Andrei Medveded made 15 saves in the Russian net, while James Howard and Robert Howard combined to stop 26 shots for the United States.

Switzerland 4, Belarus 2

Beat Forster scored the go-ahead goal 3:52 into the third period as Switzerland beat Belarus 4-2 in Pool A action.

Cyrill Buhler, Patrik Bartschi and Caryl Neuenschwander also scored for Switzerland.

Mikhail Grabovski and Vadim Karaga scored for Belarus.

Tobias Stephan made 23 saves in the Switzerland net, while Siarhei Rahouski stopped 30 shots in the Belarus goal.

Switzerland lost in the bronze-medal match at last year's tournament and Belarus finished ninth.

Finland 4, Germany 2

In Pool B play in Halifax, Jussi Jokinen, Finland's leading scorer at the 2002 tournament, scored twice to lead his team to a 4-2 win over Germany.

New York Islanders draft pick Sean Bergenheim and Jussi Timonen, a Philadelphia Flyers draft pick and brother of Nashville Predators' defenseman Kimmo Timonen, also scored for Finland.

Tuomo Ruutu, a Chicago Blackhawks draft pick and brother of Vancouver Canucks forward Jarkko Ruutu, and Henrik Juntanen each had two assists.

Goaltender Kari Lehtonen, the second overall pick by Atlanta in the NHL draft in June, stopped 25 shots for the shutout.

Germany played its first game in the top-tier world junior championship since 1998 and the nearly-full Metro Centre threw its support behind the underdogs. Goaltender Dimitri Patzold, a San Jose Sharks draft pick, played well for his team by stopping 34 of 38 shots.

Germany's best chance to score came in the third period when the Finns turned the puck over in their own end and Max Seyller went in alone on Lehtonen, only to ring his shot off the crossbar.