Finland thrash Germany

Germany have a mountain to climb to survive the first round of the Ice Hockey World Championships after going down 5-1 to Finland in St. Petersburg.

Finland sprinted away from the Germany thanks to goals by Leo Komarov, Sebastian Aho and Jarno Koskiranta. 18-year-old teenage star Patrik Laine built on his reputation, scoring another double on top of the two he had in Finland's win over Belarus on Friday.

Laine is the youngest Finn to feature in the World Championships and is tipped to be a top-two prospect ahead of the National Hockey League (NHL) draft.

Germany haven't been able to get going in the World Championships, and Brooks Macek's consolation goal had little effect on the outcome. Sturm's side have slim hopes of progressing and meet Slovakia on Tuesday.

"We must use the day off well and recharge our batteries, then play at full speed against Slovakia," said captain Marcel Goc. "The guys were too nervous.

Finland were simply the better team," added head coach Sturm, who took over in 2015.