World juniors roundup: Russia, Sweden cruise to victory ahead of quarter-finals
Swedish defenceman, Maple Leafs prospect Rasmus Sandin suffers arm injury
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 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
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.
Russia, with two wins and two losses, will advance to the quarter-finals with its exact finish to be determined by the Canada-Czech Republic result later Tuesday.
Nino Kinder broke Russia goalie Yaroslav Askarov's shutout bid with 2:17 left in regulation.
Sweden 6, Slovakia 2
Sweden clinched first in Group A with its 52nd consecutive win in preliminary-round play.
Sweden thought it may have suffered a big blow when defenceman Rasmus Sandin hurt his arm in Trinec. The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect left the ice after taking a stick to the arm during the third period.
🇸🇪Team doctor Ryan Allenby on Sandin: "X-ray looks good. There is no fracture"<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Leafs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Leafs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WorldJuniors?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WorldJuniors</a>
—@sjoberghAlexander Holtz, with two, Albin Eriksson, Philip Broberg, Oskar Back and Samuel Fagemo scored for Sweden.
Switzerland 5, Finland 2
Finland's loss sets up a rematch of last year's final in the quarter-finals with the reigning champion Finns facing the Americans.
Switzerland overtook Finland for second in Group A with the win at Trinec.
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.