COLOGNE – Alexei Kalyuzhny scored on a breakaway early in the third period to snap a tie and Belarus rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat Kazakhstan 5-2 in a key game for both countries at the World Championship on Sunday.

Nikolai Stasenko started the play on the winning goal with a pass from the side of the Belarus net that found his teammate alone at centre. With the puck on his stick, Kalyuzhny was in full flight when he snapped a low shot behind Kazak goalie Vitali Yeremeyev at 4:21.

Any chance of a rally by Kazakhstan was snuffed out when veteran defenceman Ruslan Salei iced the victory with a power play goal at 10:14. Sergei Demagin followed with goal at 18:20 to round out the scoring.

Both Belarus and Kazakhstan are in Group A along with Russia and Slovakia and the loss could have consequences for Kazakhstan, which is making its return to the IIHF’s elite division for the first time in six years.

By winning the game, Belarus will likely move on to the second round of the tournament while Kazakhstan is probably headed to the Relegation Round.

There wasn’t much in the way of scoring chances in the first period as both teams employed a smothering defensive style of play that limited the offences from getting on track.

After a goalless first period, Kazakhstan opened the scoring in the first minute of play in the second.

Konstantin Shafranov was pinned for a couple of seconds along the right boards in the Kazakh end of the rink. He slipped free of his check and sent a crisp cross-ice pass to Dmitri Dudarev and he redirected the puck past a surprised Vitali Koval, the veteran Belarus goalie, at 0:17. That prompted the Kazakh bench to break out in celebrations and the Kazakh fans in the stands to exchange hugs and kisses.

Salei was sent off for hooking at 9:36 and just under a minute later, Vladimir Antipin’s shot from the point skipped past Koval for a 2-0 lead at 10:30.

Belarus then responded with a pair of goals 90 seconds apart to send the teams to the dressing room for the second intermission tied at two.

"We were kind of sleeping the first two periods," said Belarus goalie Andrei Mezin, who was a last-minute scratch because of illness. "It kind of hurt us and we can't make that mistake anymore."

Mezin's teammate, Mikhail Grabovski, agreed.

"We were a little nervous in the beginning and got off to a bad start. I’m sure we’ll be better in the next game. We’ll start playing in the first period," he said.

Dmitri Meleshko took a centering pass from behind the net and went right to left with the puck on his stick and then slipped a backhand shot into the far left side at 12:09 of the second to slice the two-goal deficit in half.

Mikhail Stefanovich tucked a crisp wrist shot under the crossbar over at 13:39 to knot the score. Stefanovich plays for the Quebec Ramparts of the Canada’s Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The team is owned by Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy.

In the end, Belarus looked fresher than Kazakhstan.

"We were tired," said Kazakh defenceman Alexei Koledayev.

ALAN ADAMS