STOCKHOLM – Germany opened the 2012 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship strongly with a 3-0 victory over newly promoted Italy on Friday. Christoph Schubert, Patrick Reimer, and Christopher Fischer scored singles, while goalie Dennis Endras earned his third career tournament shutout.

Video: post-game comments

German forward John Tripp didn't want to get over-enthusiastic about the result: "It was our first game and were a little tentative. We wanted to come out hard and make sure we didn't have any letdowns. We took a couple of silly penalties like the call for too many men, but for the first day we won 3-0 and won't complain. Overall we did fairly well."

Remarkably, this was the first time Germany has beaten Italy in IIHF World Championship play since a 6-2 romp at the 1992 tournament in Czechoslovakia. The two sides hadn’t faced each other at the Worlds since 2001. (In addition, the last time Germany beat Italy at the Olympics was also in 1992.)

Coach Jakob Kölliker made a victorious World Championship debut behind the bench for Germany. The 58-year-old former Swiss player and national team assistant coach (1995-2010) was named as the successor to Uwe Krupp last summer. He's trying to build on two straight top-10 finishes for Germany (fourth in 2010, seventh in 2011).

For the third straight year, Germany has kicked off its tournament with a win. In 2010, as the host side, it beat the Americans 2-1 in overtime at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, which established a then-world record for single-game attendance in international hockey (77,803). In 2011, Germany shocked Russia 2-0 in its opener.

During the first period, the Germans often kept Italy hemmed in, but failed to capitalize with three power plays to Italy’s two.

At 16:16, Schubert drew first blood for Germany at even strength. The former Ottawa Senator’s slapper from the left faceoff circle beat Italian netminder Daniel Bellissimo high to the glove side.

At 2:22 of the second, Germany went up 2-0 when Reimer got behind Bellissimo and deftly backhanded home a Christoph Ullmann rebound.

Near the 13-minute mark of the middle frame, Germany’s Evan Kaufmann raced in on a clear-cut breakaway, but couldn’t lift his backhand deke over Bellissimo’s outstretched right pad.

"They play a very defensive game," said Kaufmann. "We tried to capitalize on their turnovers and did a good job in not giving them too much."

The Germans made it 3-0 at 5:11 of the third period. Christopher Fischer fired a rising shot from the center point that tipped off Luca Ansoldi and found the back of the net through traffic.

"They are a very good team," said Bellissimo of the Germans. "We knew we were in tough today. We lost the game, but there are some positives we can take from this one."

Germany outshot the Italians 46-22.

"The tempo wasn't the highest on both sides, so our next game we have to be ready," said Tripp. "We know we'll be better prepared for Sunday to take on the Czechs."

Attendance at the Globen Arena was 1,033, with a contingent of German fans in the upper deck belting out encouraging songs periodically.

"We just want to be consistent," Bellissimo added, with Italy now gearing up to face Denmark on Sunday. "If we do that we have a chance to steal a couple of wins and stay up. This is the World Championships. If you can't get up for these games, you shouldn't be playing hockey."

LUCAS AYKROYD