Slovakia 3, Latvia 0 -- Adam Gajan (2023 draft eligible) made 28 saves for his first shutout and second straight win in Group B at Avenir Centre.
Filip Mesar
(Montreal Canadiens) had a goal and an assist for Slovakia (2-0-0-1), which has a chance to finish first in pool play for the first time in its history at the WJC with a win against Switzerland on Saturday (11 a.m. ET).
Gajan, who plays for Green Bay of the United States Hockey League, made 33 saves in his first start of the tournament Wednesday, a 6-3 upset against the United States.
"It was a pretty similar game to the one we had against the United States," Mesar said. "We had a couple more chances to score goals and didn't, but it was a very good performance from our goalie and that's why we won today."
Gajan made 16 saves in the second period, including a left pad stop against Darels Dukurs (2023 draft eligible) off a rebound at the right post during a Latvia power play.
"I think the second period was tough but in the first and third periods, my teammates helped me," Gajan said. "I think they played great in front of me."
Patriks Berzins (2023 draft eligible) made 23 saves for Latvia (0-0-1-3), which will play the first game in a best-of-3 relegation round beginning Monday.
"This loss is history and congrats to the Slovaks, they deserve it," Latvia forward Martins Lavins (2023 draft eligible) said. "But now we're focusing on whoever we're playing in the relegation round. We want to win and get back here next year."
Alex Ciernik (2023 eligible) scored a power-play goal to give Slovakia a 1-0 lead at 17:52 of the first period on a shot from the right face-off circle.
Simon Nemec
(New Jersey Devils) pushed it to 2-0 at 9:03 of the third period on a snap shot from the right circle.
Mesar scored an empty-net goal at 17:03 for the 3-0 final.
Germany 4, Austria 2 -- Germany scored three goals in the second period and held on in Group A play at Scotiabank Centre.
Nikita Quapp
(Carolina Hurricanes) made 31 saves for Germany (1-0-0-2), including 17 in the third period.
Ian Scherzer (2023 draft eligible) scored the first goal in the tournament for Austria (0-0-0-4). Michael Sicher (2023 draft eligible) allowed three goals on 13 shots before being relieved in the second period by Thomas Pfarrmaier (2023 draft eligible), who made 13 saves.
Philipp Krening (2023 draft eligible) gave Germany a 1-0 lead on a rebound from the slot at 18:01 of the first period.
Leon van der Linde (2023 draft eligible) made it 2-0 on a shot from the point at 1:34 of the second period, and Thomas Heigl (2023 draft eligible) pushed it to 3-0 at 6:57.
Scherzer scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the left circle to cut it to 3-1 at 9:24, but Roman Kechter (2023 draft eligible) extended the lead to 4-1 at 16:38.
"We got a lot of shots on the power play and scoring that goal was huge," Scherzer told the IIHF website. "They blocked a lot of shots, but I had a fairly good screen and got the puck through. You're always looking for a shot, and I saw a lane."
Jonas Dobnig (2023 draft eligible), who shot wide on a penalty shot opportunity 4:34 into the second, scored to pull Austria within 4-2 at 6:00 of the third.
Austria will play Latvia in Game 1 of a best-of-3 relegation round series beginning Monday. Germany will conclude its preliminary-round schedule against Czechia on Saturday (1:30 p.m. ET).
