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IIHF World Championships roundup: Sweden maintain unbeaten record, Canada stunned

Flashscore
Updated
Canada were stunned by Norway on Monday but they have qualified for the quarter-finals
Canada were stunned by Norway on Monday but they have qualified for the quarter-finals Profimedia
Many of the playoff places have been settled at the IIHF World Championships with the group stage set to finish on Tuesday and the quarterfinals to begin on Thursday. Monday saw Sweden continue their good form with a win over Denmark while Canada confirmed their playoff place despite being beaten by already-eliminated Norway on penalties. Later, Kazakhstan and Austria ended their tournaments with wins.

Flashscore brings you all the results from Tampere and Riga.

Group A

Austria 3 Hungary 3 (2-0 pens)

Neither Austria nor Hungary could boast a regular-time win before their last match on Monday and things stayed that way after this encounter between Group A's bottom sides.

Hungary had one overtime victory to their name prior to the game and Austria's best result had been an overtime loss. Both sides were thus well out of the playoff picture before they met in Tampere. Despite that, it proved to be an entertaining send-off.

Hungary celebrate the opening goal of the game
Hungary celebrate the opening goal of the gameAFP

Two Istvan Sofron goals on either side of one from Austria's Marco Rossi had Hungry leading 2-1 at the first interval before Milan Horvath put them 3-1 up early in the second period.

Austria roared back into it, however, with goals from Steven Strong and Lukas Haudum before the second break. A goalless third period meant overtime was required and it was still level after the additional five minutes. 

Austria won the penalty shoot-out and ended the tournament with a first win.

See all the match stats here.

Denmark 1 Sweden 4

Coming into Monday, Sweden had yet to lose a match at the World Championships and they went into their sixth group game with Denmark knowing that their quarter-final spot was already booked.

Denmark, on the other hand, were sitting fifth in Group A before the encounter - a win over Sweden would have seen them leapfrog Germany into the top four and so there was plenty at stake.

Nicklas Jensen got the Danes off to the perfect start with a goal in the opening few minutes before Dennis Everberg equalised for Sweden before the break.

Denmark took a surprise lead in the match
Denmark took a surprise lead in the matchAFP

Despite an encouraging opening, it was a matter of time before the vastly more dominant Swedish side took hold of the match. Andre Petersson grabbed the lead in the second period before Lucas Raymond and Carl Grundstrom added goals in the third to make it six wins from six for the Swedes.

Sweden play the USA in their final group game on Tuesday in a battle for the top spot in Group A. As for Denmark, they can progress if they better Germany's result on the final day of group matches.

See all the match stats here.

Group B 

Kazakhstan 4 Slovenia 3

Going into this, their last match of the group stage on Monday, both Kazakhstan and Slovenia had already been eliminated from the tournament.

Slovenia had lost all six of their prior matches while Kazakhstan had managed just two overtime wins. Thus, it was more a matter of pride for Group B's basement boys. As it turned out, it was a back-and-forth affair with both sides scoring in each period.

Slovenia scored first against Kazakhstan
Slovenia scored first against KazakhstanAFP

The Slovenes struck first through Anze Kuralt before Nikita Mikhailis levelled the scores before the first break. Kuralt once again put his side in front in the second but Batyrlan Muratov pulled the Kazakhs back into it once again.

In the final period, Jan Drozg put Slovenia in the lead for a third time in the match but goals from first Yevgeni Rymarev and then Maxim Mukhametov meant that Kazakhstan secured their first regular-time win of the World Championships while luckless Slovenia leave Latvia winless.

See all the match stats here.

Canada 2 Norway 2 (2-4 pens)

Canada had very nearly secured their progression to the final eight of the World Championships before this match but their tournament could still have gone awry if things went desperately wrong for them in their final two fixtures.

A match against a Norway side that was already eliminated from the competition wasn't predicted to cause them much trouble. However, it wasn't smooth sailing by any means. 

Andreas Martinsen put Norway into the lead in the first period in Riga before Sondre Olden doubled it in the second. In reply, veteran forward Milan Lucic brought Canada back into the match before the second break.

Norway celebrate going 1-0 up
Norway celebrate going 1-0 upAFP

It was looking like that was going to be all the Canadians could muster before Lawson Crouse saved the day with an equaliser with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period.

That goal sent the match to overtime, meaning the Canadians would at least gain the one point they needed to confirm their quarter-final spot.

Penalties followed a goalless overtime period and Norway completed an upset win by prevailing 4-2 in the shootout.

See all the match stats here.