The Canadians, competing in their first quarter-final in the history of the tournament following their defeat to the US yesterday, secured a comfortable 3-1 win at the Ice Palace Dmitrov.

Hosts Russia also progressed to the last four after they overcame Finland in the second quarter-final 2-0 to the delight of the home crowd inside the arena.

Russia will face Sweden for a place in the gold medal match.

The semi-finals are scheduled to take place on Friday (January 12) following a rest day tomorrow.

In the relegation round, Switzerland boosted their chance of remaining in the top division at women's under-18 level with a thumping 7-3 victory over Germany.

Canada dominated their encounter with the Czech Republic and scored three goals in the second period on their way to a convincing triumph.

Following a scoreless opening stanza, which was largely due to the inspired Czech goaltender Kristyna Blahova, Courtney Correia broke the deadlock to give Canada the lead.

Willow Slobodzian quickly doubled Canada's advantage in the powerplay before Courtney Kollman deflected home a third.

Adela Skrdlova reduced the deficit at the start of the third period but it proved to be nothing more than a consolation as Canada held firm and saw out a confident win.

"A lot of it was just about regrouping," said Canada forward Maggie Connors. 

"We talked a lot about believing, and we know that we can still do well in this tournament. 

"We certainly answered everything that our coaches asked of us."