WJC: Russia hold off Slovakia to take 3rd in Group B

Ilya Samsonov stopped all 15 shots he faced as Russia shut out Slovakia 2-0 on Saturday to wrap-up preliminary round play at the world junior hockey championship.

Denis Guryanov opened the scoring midway through the second period on the power play for the Russians (2-2-0) with Yakov Trenin adding the other goal in the third.

Matej Tomek made 28 saves in net for Slovakia (1-3-0).

Russia plays Denmark in quarter-final action on Monday in Toronto while Slovakia travels to Montreal to face undefeated Sweden.

Canada will face the Czech Republic in Montreal while the United States takes on Switzerland in Toronto in the other quarters.

Fins shutout Swiss with new bench boss

Eeli Tolvanen and Aapeli Rasanen each had a goal and an assist as Finland responded to an in-tournament coaching change with a 2-0 victory over Switzerland on Saturday at the world junior hockey championship.

The Finns (0-1-3) outshot the Swiss 51-17 and Veini Vehvilainen got the shutout in their first win of the tournament.

Finland will face Latvia in a best-of-three relegation playoff starting Monday at Bell Centre. Switzerland (1-2-1) finished fourth in their round robin group.

It was a first game behind the bench for Finland coach Jussi Ahokas, who took over Friday night when Jukka Ruatakorpi was abruptly fired after his team was officially knocked to the bottom of the group with Switzerland's win over Denmark. Ahokas, who was in Montreal working as a television analyst, was already slated to take over as coach after the tournament.

Finland will play in the relegation round for the first time since the world juniors debuted in 1977. It had never before finished lower than seventh place in the tournament.

After outshooting Switzerland 17-8 in a scoreless first period, the Finns got on the board 4:35 into the second when Rasanen followed in to jam Tolvanen's rebound past Joren van Pottelberghe.

The Finns scored again on their fourth power play of the game as Tolvanen one-timed a feed from Vili Saarijarvi inside the near post at 13:53 of the second.

The Swiss barely touched the puck in the third as Finland closed out the win.

Sens prospect Dahlen nets hat trick for Sweden

Jonathan Dahlen scored three goals as Sweden downed the Czech Republic 5-2 in the final preliminary round game for both teams Saturday at the world junior hockey championship.

Rasmus Asplund and Jens Looke also scored for Sweden (4-0-0), which finished first in its group.

David Kase and Filip Hronek scored late goals for the Czechs (1-1-2), who will know their final placing after a game later Saturday between Switzerland and Finland. They are seeking a first world junior medal since winning bronze in 2005.

Sweden used Filip Gustavsson in goal in place of Felix Sandstrom while Daniel Vladar played for the Czechs. Both faced 38 shots.

Asplund, a Buffalo Sabres second round pick in June, scored only 47 seconds into the game as he banged in Filip Ahl's rebound on a two on one rush.

He followed that with a thundering open ice hit on Kase, which may have been what prompted the Czech forward to take a tripping penalty with a run at a Swedish player at 8:42. Only 12 seconds into that power play, Dahlen put Asplund's diagonal pass into an open side.