The host country suffered a scare in the early stages of the contest when Iya Gavrilova put her team into the lead, marking the first time Russia had ever led Canada in the Championships history.

Although the 1-0 advantage lasted until the end of the first period, the Canadian team came out firing in the second by scoring six unanswered goals, with Halli Krzyzaniak and Meaghan Mikkelson claiming braces.

Having turned the match around, Canada continued to outplay their rivals in the final 20 minute period with Marie-Philip Poulin and Emily Clark finding the net to seal an 8-1 win.

"We just needed to get that first goal," Rebecca Johnston, who ended with a goal and three assists, said. 

"We had a lot of good chances in the first period.

“Going into the second period, we weren’t down on ourselves, we knew we just had to keep getting shots on net."

Having beaten Canada 3-1 in their first match, the United States were looking to seal a semi-final place by defeating Finland.

Buoyed by their 5-3 win over Russia yesterday, the Finnish team began well and took a surprise lead on five minutes through Michelle Karvinen.

Despite the best efforts of their goalkeeper Meeri Raisanen the Americans eventually turnedn the match around.

Hilary Knight and Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson gave the defending champions a 2-1 victory to seal the first semi-final spot.

All four teams in Group A will qualify for the play-off rounds, with Canada and Finland meeting after the rest day to see which country progresses directly to the semi-finals.

The other teams will reach the quarter-finals with the top two in Group B.

One of those nations will be likely to face Sweden, who recorded their second victory to move to the top of the Group B standings.

Goals from Pernilla Winberg and Emma Eliasson saw them claim a 2-0 victory over Japan, who look set to compete in the relegation play-off after two straight defeats.

The Czech Republic secured a 3-1 victory over Switzerland to move level with their opponents in the standings on three points, but now boast a marginally better goal difference.

Both teams will go in search of their second victory on Thursday (March 31) with the Czech Republic due to on Japan and Switzerland meet Sweden.