In the battle for the first place in subgroup B, Sweden won with the result 4:2 (0:0, 4:1, 1:0), being also superior in shots on goal (41:30).
Herman Tref stood out for the Swedes with two goals, while Anton Wahlberg scored 1+1.
The quarter-finals of the Latvian and Swedish national teams are planned for January 2 at 19:00 Latvian time. In the other quarterfinals, the USA will compete against Switzerland, as well as Finland against Slovakia and the Czech Republic against Canada. After the quarter-finals, their winners will be seeded based on their results in the sub-group and form the semi-final pairings.
Last year, in the subgroup of the championship, the Latvians capitulated to the Swedes with 0:6, but a year before, in the quarter-finals, they conceded to their opponents only 1:2.
In subgroup A, in the fight for first place, the USA defeated Canada 4:1 (1:0, 0:0, 3:1), although the opponents had more shots (39:28).
Danny Nelson scored the winning goal in the fifth minute of the third period. Cole Aizerman and Cole Hutson had a goal and an assist.
One of the judges in the North American Classic was Andris Ansons.
In subgroup B, Sweden collected the maximum 12 points in four games, nine points were given to the Czech Republic, five to Slovakia, three to Switzerland and one to Kazakhstan. In Group A, USA scored ten points, Finland – eight, Canada – seven, Latvia – four, and Germany – one.
The top four teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals, while the fifth-placed teams will play one game to stay in the elite group.