PYEONGCHANG, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Sochi bronze medal winner Finland beat Norway 5-1 to lead men's ice hockey Group C competition at PyeongChang Olympics on Friday, while the United States, Vancouver silver medalist, secured the first place in Group B with a hard 2-1 win over Slovakia.

Also in Group B, the Russians kept their hope into the quarterfinals alive with an overwhelming 8-2 victory over Slovenia, scoring three points in group ranking as Slovakia. Slovenia finished fourth.

In the other game of Group C, the Sochi silver medalist Sweden defeated Germany with Viktor Stalberg scoring the only goal in the first period. Germany showed great ambition to win with two more goal attempts and more time in power play, which went in vain with strong defence of the Swedes.

With the victory, Sweden was ranked second in Group C while Germany finished third and Norway fourth with two losses.

Twelve teams are competing in men's competitions. Defending champion Canada, Switzerland, the host South Korea and the Czech Republic are in Group A.