Montreal Canadiens prospect Filip Mesar had two points, including a goal, as the Slovaks sent Latvia to the relegation round of the World Junior Hockey Championship by virtue of a 3-0 victory Friday in Moncton.
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Mesar was an accomplice to the net of Simon Nemec in the third period before scoring the third and last goal of the game with just under three minutes to go. After a scoreless first period, Alex Ciernik opened the scoring in the midfielder.
After shining in a surprise 6-3 victory over the Americans, Adam Gajan had a 28-save shutout. His vis-à-vis Patriks Berzins, who played in all four games of his team in the preliminary round, was once again effective, stopping 23 of the 25 pucks aimed at him.
Latvia is thus guaranteed to participate in the relegation round. The nation that loses the match between Austria and Germany scheduled for later in Halifax will join the Latvians.
Slovakia, meanwhile, move into second place on a provisional basis and will face Switzerland on Saturday. In the event of a victory, they could finish at the top of Group B. However, it will be necessary to count on an American victory against Finland for this scenario to materialize.
