With the scores locked at 5-5, Patrick Laine found the net with just six minutes remaining to send his side through at the expense of the heartbroken Canadians.

After Travis Konecny and Dylan Strome had put the Canadians 2-0 ahead, Laine pulled one back for Finland before the end of the first period and Antti Kalapudas then levelled six minutes into the second.

But Lawson Crouse edged Canada back in front to briefly halt the Finnish comeback before the hosts turned the match on its head once again as goals from Aleksi Saarela and Julius Nattinen gave them a 4-3 lead going into the final stanza.

The Canadians weren’t giving up the defence of their title without a fight, however, and Mitch Marner restored parity once again to level the pulsating contest at 4-4.

A topsy-turvy period followed as Finland went back in front thanks to Sebastian Aho before Marner equalised once again.

Just as the match looked to be heading to overtime, Laine bagged the decisive goal amid jubilant scenes inside the Hartwell Arena.

Earlier, Sweden got sweet revenge for their defeat in last year’s bronze medal match as they hammered Slovakia 6-0 to secure their berth in the semi-finals.

The Swedes came into the quarter-final clash full of confidence having sailed through the group stages with a 100 per cent record Joel Ek Eriksson set them on their way to victory with the opening goal after five minutes.

That set the tone for a dominant first period from Sweden and they doubled their advantage when Oskar Lindblom followed up Adrian Kempe’s effort.

It was to get worse for Slovakia as Christoffer Ehn tapped home a third just 10 minutes in to move the Swedes a step closer to the last four.

They were made to wait until the third stanza to extend their advantage as Kempe got his name on the scoresheet with a powerful drive that flew into the net before Jens Looke added a fortuitous fifth shortly after.

As the match veered towards its climax, Alexander Nylander completed the rout with Sweden’s sixth and they will go on to face Finland on Monday (January 4).

In the day’s opening quarter-final, Vladislav Kamenev netted an overtime winner to send 2015 silver medallists Russia through to the last four as they overcame Denmark 4-3.

The Russians will take on the United States for a place in the final as the American side made light work of the Czech Reoublic by cruising to a dominant 7-0 success.

Elsewhere, Switzerland won the opening relegation play-off as they thrashed Belarus 5-1, with the second of the three match series between the two sides due to take place tomorrow.