OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Russia avoided elimination and a trip to the relegation round with a 6-1 win over Germany on Tuesday at the world junior hockey championship.
Russia, with two wins and two losses, will advance to the quarterfinals after finishing third in Group B. The Russians will face Switzerland on Thursday.
Kirill Marchenko and Pavel Dorofeyev led Russia with two goals apiece against Germany. Grigori Denisenko and Dmitri Voronkov also scored for Russia.
Nino Kinder broke Russia goalie Yaroslav Askarov's shutout bid with 2:17 left in regulation.
The Germans, with one win and three losses, will now face Kazakhstan in the best-of-three relegation round with the loser out of next year's world juniors in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta.
Austria will be the 10th team in the 2021 tournament after winning the promotion event in early December.
SWEDEN 6 SLOVAKIA 2
TRINEC — Sweden clinched first in Group A with its 52nd consecutive win in preliminary-round play.
Alexander Holtz, with two, Albin Eriksson, Philip Broberg, Oskar Back and Samuel Fagemo scored for Sweden, which will meet the host Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.
Sweden lost defenceman Rasmus Sandin when he hurt his arm in the third period. The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect left the ice after taking a stick to the arm.
Kristian Kovacik and Robert Dzugan replied for Slovakia, which will face Canada in the quarterfinals after finishing fourth in Group A.
SWITZERLAND 5 FINLAND 2
TRINEC — Finland's loss sets up a rematch of last year's final in the quarterfinals with the reigning champion Finns facing the Americans.
Switzerland overtook Finland for second in Group A with the win.
Fabian Berri scored two goals for Switzerland, while Simon Knak, Valentin Nussbaumer and Gaetan Jobin added singles.
Joonas Oden and Anttoni Honka scored for Finland.
CANADA 7 CZECH REPUBLIC 2
OSTRAVA — Canada captain Barrett Hayton and Dylan Cozens had four points apiece as the team clinched top spot in Group B.
Canada earned a quarterfinal date with Slovakia, the fourth-place finisher in Group A.
Hayton, Cozens, Joe Veleno, Nolan Foote, Connor McMichael, Liam Foudy and Jared McIsaac scored for Canada.
Vojtech Strondala and Libor Zabransky scored for the injury-riddled Czechs. The host team lost another key player when goalie Lukas Parik suffered a lower-body injury against Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 31, 2019.
The Canadian Press