World Championship: Day 5 Open Thread

OK, so here's where things sit.  It's the final day of Group A and B action, so there's a couple of things to sort through:

Slovenia  vs. Germany  (4:15 PM local, 10:15 AM EST)

Slovenia's performance today does not matter...  it's a freebie for them in preparation for the relegation round.  In essence, this entire game doesn't matter for either team, as Germany's points from today won't be carried over.  Germany is a perfect 2-0-0-0 against Russia and Slovakia, which sets them up nice for a quarterfinal berth when the move on.

Canada   vs. Switzerland   (4:15 PM local, 10:15 AM EST)

This game definitely matters.  While losing it will not cripple either team, its a chance to gain some points towards qualifying for the quarterfinals.  Switzerland has played Canada tough at pretty much every men's tournament in recent years, and expect this to be no different.  This will be the first real test for Canada's youth movement.

Russia   vs. Slovakia   (8:15 PM local, 2:15 PM EST)

Slovakia is under a bunch of pressure to perform here.  They seemed to get their game together in the third period vs. Germany, so maybe now their star filled lineup is about to click.  Russia has looked terrible by their standards to date.  This game is a huge swing game for either of these teams in the tournament so far, despite both nations knowing that they will live to fight in the qualification round in the coming days.

France   vs. Belarus   (8:15 PM local, 2:15 PM EST)

The winner of this game moves on to the qualification round, but with zero points carried over from it.  Whether it goes to a shootout or is a regulation blowout will have no bearing on anything here.  This is simply a survival game.  France has a lead in the standings due to reaching overtime with Switzerland, and that point would carry over if they pulled off the upset today.

That's about as simple as I can make it.  It's a big moving day at the Worlds, that's for sure.  Join us in the comments for updates and game discussion.