Having seen off the challenge of the Czech Republic and Slovenia in their opening matches, Canada were expected to cruise past Belarus at the AccorHotels Arena.

Belarus, who had suffered back-to-back defeats, did little to dispel the pre-match predictions as they went 3-0 down after two periods of play.

A strike from Brayden Point and a brace from Nate Mackinnon put Canada in control heading into the final period.

Canada would continue to move clear of their Group B opponents, with a further three goals giving them a straightforward 6-0 win.

The result keeps Canada at the top of the standings prior to their rest day tomorrow.

Switzerland lie second after winning their opening two matches and we joined on the tally by the Czech Republic today.

The Czech team battled to a 4-3 win over last year's runners-up Finland to boost their prospects of a play-off place.

Hosts France, Norway and Finland all have one victory to their names.

After two losses, with one coming in overtime, Slovenia occupy seventh place in the standings but Belarus are in the relegation spot with three defeats to their name.

Russia continue to look like the most impressive side in Group A as they secured a 6-3 win over hosts Germany at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne.

Latvia currently lie second in the standings after two wins and were joined on the total by the United States.

The American side had surprisingly lost to Germany on the opening day but responded by beating Denmark yesterday.

They headed into their third with an identical record with Sweden, but they were able to edge their opponents 4-3 in an entertaining match.

Germany occupy fourth place with one win and two defeats, while Slovakia are the only other nation to have secured a win in the group.

Italy and Denmark, after two straight defeats, occupying seventh and eighth place.