OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Finland beat Latvia 3-0 on Tuesday to close out its preliminary round competition and guaranteed a finish of no lower than third place in Group A of the world junior hockey championship.
Benjamin Rautiainen had a goal and an assist and Petteri Rimpenen earned the shutout for Finland, which could finish as high as second in the group, depending on the outcome of the game between Canada and the defending champion United States.
Finland finished with eight points. Canada and the Americans had seven entering their game.
Latvia finished fourth in the group and will face the winner of Tuesday’s game between Czechia and Sweden in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Jesse Kiiskinen and Kasper Halttunen also scored for Finland.
In Group B, Switzerland beat Kazakhstan 3-1 to secure a spot in the quarterfinal round.
Simon Meier and Ludvig Johnson each had a goal and an assist and Robin Antenen also scored for the Swiss, who entered without a point in three earlier games but moved past Kazakhstan into fourth spot in the group.
Kirill Lyapunov scored for Kazakhstan, which came in as fourth in the group after earning a point in a 5-4 overtime loss to Slovakia on Monday.
Switzerland will face the winner of Group A in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Kazakhstan faces Germany in a relegation game, with the loser demoted to the Division I Group A tournament for 2026.
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