Sweden began defence of their Olympic title in men’s hockey by beating Germany 2-0 as Henrik Lundqvist had his first Olympic shutout on Wednesday night.

Mattias Ohlund scored the first goal for Sweden in the second period on a power play while teammate Loul Eriksson got his first of the tournament.

Lundqvist turned away 21 shots by Germany to secure their opening win while German goaltender Thomas Greiss turned away 23 shots.

Sweden brought to Vancouver a star- studded line up to contend for a chance to repeat gold.

The German team began their Olympic quest on an aggressive note as they forechecked and made it hard for the Swedes to get going.

It was an overall even first period, with neither team finding the back of the net, but the Germans could not contend with the Swedish fast forwards.

Johnny Oduya of Sweden hit Marco Sturm from behind and received a two-minute minor and 10-minute misconduct that put the Germans on a 5-on-3 for 59 seconds.

Two shots got through the Swedish defence only to hit the crossbar and the goal post. Germany was unable to capitalize on their chances.

Marcel Muller of Germany was also sent to the box serving two for checking from behind and a 10-minute misconduct. Sweden converted on the power play, a goal from Ohlund from the top of the circle.

The German bench were up in arms over the goal, as they thought there should have been a goalie interference penalty called as Daniel Sedin backed into the German goaltender.

The goal however, didn’t seem to blow Germany’s confidence as they continued to press and play physical.

Sweden’s second goal came in the third period when Nicklas Backstrom skated across the crease to pass it to Eriksson who scored, ending any chance of a German comeback.

Germany started to come on strong late in the third period, giving the Swedish defence a hard time but it was too little too late.

With Phil Kessel’s Toronto Maple Leafs debut Tuesday night, it was hoped the team would finally turn the corner and put together some wins.

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All eyes in the Air Canada Centre were on Phil Kessel as he made his Toronto Maple Leafs debut on Tuesday night.

But the sniper and his new teammates had a tough time solving Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Antero Niittymaki.

Ryan Malone scored the game winner 2:21 into overtime as the Lightning defeated the Leafs 2-1.

Vincent Lecavalier also scored for Tampa Bay and Ian White netted Toronto’s lone goal.

The win marked Tampa Bay’s (5-4-4) first on the road, while Toronto (1-7-5) remains winless at home with an 0-4-2 record.

Toronto has lost in extra time in each of its last four games, but has picked up at least a point in each of the last five. 

Jonas Gustavsson had the start and made 29 saves for the Leafs while Niittymaki started for Tampa Bay and stopped 40 shots.

Kessel led all Toronto forwards with 23:50 total ice time and registered a career high 10 shots on goal. But he couldn’t find the net.

OT winner disputed

Malone scored the winner on a play that went under review, collecting a rebound and knocking Gustavsson down on the second attempt before the puck went into the net.

The NHL video reviewer decided the puck crossed the line before the net came off its moorings.

Leafs were down 1-0 when White tied the game at 5:04 of the third with a wrist shot that deflected off Lightning defender Matt Walker and beat Niittymaki on the powerplay.

Gustavsson had trouble controlling his rebounds all game long and Lecavalier took advantage of that near the end of the second.

The Swedish goalie turned the puck over to Mattias Ohlund and stopped a slapshot from the right face off circle, but left a big rebound for Lecavalier, who scored at 18:34, giving the Lightning a 1-0 lead.

With that goal, Toronto opponents have now scored first in 12 out of 13 games.

Niklas Hagman had a good scoring chance in the dying seconds of a powerplay with nine minutes to go in the second period. He was on a breakaway, but couldn’t get full control of the puck to fire a shot on goal.

Toronto had another strong chance with a few minutes to go in the second thanks to Kessel. The 22-year old exploded into the Lightning’s zone and fired a wrister over the crossbar.

He regained control of the puck and Niittymaki stopped his shot from the point.

Niittymaki kept the Lightning in the game by stopping 19 second-period shots and 29 through 40 minutes.

Just 13 minutes into the first period, Kessel skated into Tampa Bay’s zone with his head down and took a big hit from Ohlund.

He gave Leafs fans a scare when he went to the Leafs dressing room but returned a minute later.

Kessel was on the ice for a Leafs powerplay with four minutes to go in the first and fired a wrist shot at Niittymaki, but the goalie made a glove save despite being screened by two players.