Switzerland needed a win in order to rise in the standings, while the Finns had no interest in the Prague match.
Accordingly, the Swiss dominated the field and won with excellent defence, thus deciding that they would face last year's finalists Germany in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
The Sweden-Slovakia match in Ostrava was without risk. The Nordics managed to lead the way to remain the only team in the field of 16 with a clean record.
The Slovaks – who will host Hungarian, Kazakh and Austrian teams in Bratislava at the end of the summer – held up well at the start, but collapsed in the second third, MTI reported.
Ice Hockey, World Championship, Group Stage:
Seventh (final) round:
Group (Prague):
- Switzerland – Finland 3-1 (0-0, 2–1, 1–0)
- Canada – Czech Republic 4-3 (0–0, 0–0, 3–3, 1–0) After extension
- Great Britain – Austria 4-2 (0–0, 1–1, 3–1)
Final group result: 1. Canada 19 points, 2. Switzerland 17, 3. Czech Republic 16, 4. Finland 10, 5. Austria 7, 6. Norway 6, 7. Denmark 6, 8. Great Britain 3. In case of the same result, the result is decided. Direct confrontations.
The second group (Ostrava):
- Sweden – Slovakia 6-1 (1–0, 3–0, 2–1)
- USA – Latvia 6-3 (2nd–0, 1–1, 3–2)
- Germany-France 6-3 (1–1, 3–2, 2–0)
Final score: 1. Sweden 21 points, 2. USA 16, 3. Germany 15, 4. Slovakia 12, 5. Latvia 9, 6. Kazakhstan 6, 7. France 4, 8. Poland 1.
In the quarter-finals on Thursday:
- Canada-Slovakia
- Sweden-Finland
- Switzerland-Germany
- United States-Czech Republic
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