TORONTO -- Captain Curtis Lazar had two goals and an assist, and goaltender Zachary Fucale made 14 saves to lead Canada to an 8-0 victory against Denmark in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship at Air Canada Centre on Friday.

Canada will play Slovakia on Sunday in a semifinal in Toronto at 8 p.m. ET. Canada defeated Slovakia 8-0 in the preliminary round on Dec. 26.

MONTREAL -- Slovakia picked an opportune moment at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship to finally get the better of its historical rivals.

Goaltender Denis Godla made 34 saves to send Slovakia to a 3-0 shutout win against the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals of the WJC at Bell Centre on Friday.

MONTREAL -- Jack Eichel and the United States were eliminated from the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship on Friday, marking the second straight year that they will not be competing for a medal at the tournament. 

The United States lost 3-2 against Russia in their quarterfinal game at Bell Centre. Russia won 5-3 in a 2014 WJC quarterfinal against the U.S., which won gold in 2012, but will not play for a medal for the third time in four years.

TORONTO – Sweden used a three-goal third period to defeat Finland 6-3 at Air Canada Centre on Friday in a quarterfinal game of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Sweden was 3-for-5 on the power play, scoring twice while Finland was two men short, and also killed off a four-minute penalty in the third period while leading by one goal.

MONTREAL – Russia coach Valeri Bragin knew no one expected his team to defeat the United States in the quarterfinals of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship on Friday.

In fact, he felt that assessment was pretty accurate.

In spite of those long odds, Russia advanced to the semifinals of the 2015 WJC for a second straight year at the expense of the U.S., winning 3-2 behind 39 saves from goaltender Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers).

MONTREAL -- If the preliminary round of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship proved anything it's that international competition brings out the best in the top junior-aged hockey players in the world.

How else could you explain Slovakia earning a 2-1 victory against defending champion Finland, Switzerland thumping tournament contender Czech Republic 5-2, and Denmark's fantastic locker room celebration after winning for the first time in the top division of the WJC, a 4-3 shootout victory against Switzerland.

While the occasional upset is par for the course at the WJC in recent years, the perennial favorites always seem to be vying for the grand prize in the end. This year is no exception as the United States, Canada, Sweden and Russia are four of the eight teams to advance into the playoff round of the tournament, which begins Friday.

Oskar Lindblom (Philadelphia Flyers) had a hat trick and William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs) had three assists as Sweden beat Switzerland 5-1 in a Group B a preliminary-round game of the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship on Wednesday at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings) and top 2015 NHL Draft prospect Jens Looke each had a goal. Goaltender Linus Soderstrom (New York Islanders) made 21 saves.

Four of Sweden's goals came on the power play.

"We have good chemistry," Nylander said of the team's potent power play, according to the IIHF website. "We played together at the [2014 IIHF World] U-18s and we're getting better and better still. It's a lot of fun."

MONTREAL – A lot of the attention surrounding the preliminary-round game between Canada and the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championship on Wednesday was the matchup between Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel.

But the top two prospects for the 2015 NHL Draft were barely ever on the ice together. Instead, it was an entirely different matchup that allowed Canada to come away with a 5-3 win to claim first place in Group A.

Canada coach Benoit Groulx used the advantage of having the last change to play defensemen Darnell Nurse (Edmonton Oilers) and Shea Theodore (Anaheim Ducks) and the forward line of Sam Reinhart (Buffalo Sabres), Max Domi (Arizona Coyotes) and Anthony Duclair (New York Rangers) against Eichel's line the entire game.

MONTREAL -- Max Domi not only helped the Canadian National Junior Team continue its preliminary-round mastery of the United States at the IIHF World Junior Championship, but he ended his night with an entire arena chanting his name.

Domi (Arizona Coyotes), who was named Canada's player of the game, scored two goals to spark a relentless offensive attack in a 5-3 victory against its North American rival at Bell Centre on Wednesday. Canada outshot the United States 43-28.

Domi scored the first goal of the game 7:07 into the second period and the last one into an empty net with 4.7 seconds remaining before the Bell Centre crowd began chants of "Domi, Domi" in the very city where his father was public enemy No. 1 for 10-plus seasons as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Denmark defeated Switzerland 4-3 in a shootout for its first win at the top level of the World Junior Championship after 15 losses over three appearances.

Nikolaj Ehlers (Winnipeg Jets) and Oliver Bjorkstrand (Columbus Blue Jackets) scored in the shootout for Denmark. Goalie Georg Sorensen made 42 saves and stopped two of three shootout participants.

Kris Schmidli and Kevin Fiala (Nashville Predators) scored in the first period to give Switzerland a 2-0 lead. Bjorkstrand scored with 2:02 left in the period to make it 2-1.