Switzerland's Simon Meier, left, and Norway's Casper Haugen in action during the IIHF World Junior Championship group B ice hockey match between Switzerland and Norway at Frolundaborg arena in Gothenburg, Sweden, Saturday Dec. 30, 2023. Meier and Ludvig Johnson each had a goal and an assist as Switzerland beat Kazakhstan 3-1 and locked up a quarterfinal spot Tuesday at the world junior hockey championship.THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/TT News Agency via AP
OTTAWA – Simon Meier and Ludvig Johnson each had a goal and an assist as Switzerland beat Kazakhstan 3-1 and locked up a quarterfinal spot Tuesday at the world junior hockey championship.
Robin Antenen also scored for the Swiss, who came into the game without a point from their first three contests but moved past Kazakhstan into fourth spot in Group B.
Kirill Lyapunov scored for Kazakhstan, which entered the game with a tenuous hold on fourth in the group after picking up a point in a wild 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 the relegation game, with the loser demoted to the Division I Group A tournament for 2026.
In other games Tuesday, Finland faced Latvia, Sweden took on Czechia and host Canada played the defending-champion United States.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2024.