Prague - Canada kept a perfect record at the ice hockey world championships as they swept Austria in the last group game on Tuesday to face Belarus in Thursday's quarter-finals in Prague.
Dallas forward Jason Spezza and Colorado forward Matt Duchene had two goals and two assists each as Canada humiliated Austria 10-1 in Group A played in Prague, outshooting the minnows 46-15.
Tyson Barrie, Duchene, Taylor Hall and Aaron Ekblad put Canada 4-0 ahead in the first period and Spezza and Jordan Eberle made it 6-0 by the second intermission.
Dominique Heinrich scored for Austria early in the final period, but Nathan MacKinnon, Spezza, Brayden Schenn and Duchene again rounded off the score.
Canada have advanced to the quarter-finals with seven wins from as many games and an impressive goal difference of 35.
"It is nice to finish first in the group but it really doesn't mean much," Spezza said after the game.
"We're here to win the gold medal and we have to start with winning our next game."
Belarus earned a spot in the quarter-finals after beating Norway 3-2 in a Group B game in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava on Tuesday.
Alexei Kalyuzhny scored on a power play eight minutes into the game and Dmitri Korobov and Andrei Kostitsyn made it 3-0 in the second period, also with power-play goals.
Patrick Thoresen scored for Norway on 33 minutes and Mattias Norstebo took Norway within a goal in the 46th minute, but Belarus held on to the points they needed.
"I haven't seen them play yet, but we'll probably take tonight off and then study them tomorrow," said Spezza.
"They're a dangerous team, I've played against some of them in the past, they can be a tricky team to play against, they have lots of skill and some good offensive players."
The Czech Republic, Finland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA have also made it to the quarter-finals. The schedule will depend on games to be played later on Tuesday.
AFP
