And the Russians did win in style. Efim Gurkin scored twice in the first period and Nikita Nesterov added the third one as the Russians jumped out to a strong 3-1 lead at the end of 20 minutes.

The Russians went into maintenance mode in the rest of the game, while the Slovaks tried to find their way into the offensive zone, but had little luck against the defensive-minded Russians.

Photo by Pekka Mononen / HHOF-IIHF Images

Meanwhile, Team Canada has become the biggest disappointment of the tournament. For the first time since their World Under-18 Hockey Championship debut in 2002, they have failed to qualify for the play-offs.

Canada wrapped up preliminary round play on Sunday with a 5-4 loss to group leaders Sweden, leaving it fourth in Group A with a 1-3 record. Earlier they lost 3-1 to Switzerland and 5-0 to the United States.

So, group winners Sweden and Finland go directly to the semifinals, while Russia and Switzerland, the US and the Czech Republic will decide the remaining two slots.