Switzerland defeats Germany in relegation round

TORONTO -- Pius Suter scored two goals and Timo Meier had a goal and two assists to lead Switzerland to a 5-2 victory against Germany and complete a two-game sweep in the best-of-3 relegation-round series in the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship at Air Canada Centre on Saturday.

The win gives Switzerland a berth in the 2016 WJC in Finland, while Germany was relegated to Division I Group A in the 2016 tournament. Switzerland and Germany each finished fifth in their respective pools in the top division of the 2015 WJC.

Meier, an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's players to watch list for the 2015 NHL Draft, assisted on first-period goals by Jason Fuchs and Denis Malgin (2015 draft eligible) when Switzerland took a 2-1 lead. Suter, a C-rated skater on Central Scouting's players to watch list, scored his first of the tournament 11:12 into the second to extend the lead to 3-1.

Andreas Eder pulled Germany within 3-2 with a power-play goal at 18:10 of the second but Switzerland goalie Gauthier Descloux shut the door in the third. Descloux made 12 of his 25 saves in the third, including a point-blank stop against Vladislav Filin off a rising wrist shot from the slot at 10:09.

Parker Tuomie also scored for Germany in the first. Each team had 27 shots.

Switzerland was playing without defenseman Yannick Rathgeb after the IIHF disciplinary panel suspended him two games for an illegal hit he delivered in the second period of a 5-1 loss to Sweden in the preliminary round on Wednesday. Rathgeb, who serves as the team captain, missed both games of the relegation series.