Russia beats Switzerland 3-1 in women’s world hockey

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Valeria Pavlova and Viktoria Kulishova scored in 14-second span midway through the second period and Russia opened the women’s world hockey championship with a 3-1 victory over Switzerland on Saturday night. Pavlova tied it on a power play with 9:11 left in the period, and Kulishova put Russia ahead at even strength with 8:57 to go. Maria Batalova also scored and Valeria Merkusheva made 19 saves in the Group A game. Earlier, Nina Christof scored twice to help Germany beat newcomer Hungary 3-0 in Group B. Julia Zorn also scored and Jennifer Harss made 19 saves. In the late game, also in Group B, Hikaru Yamashita scored early in the second period and Nana Fujimoto made 26 saves in Japan’s 1-0 victory over Denmark.