Welcome. Game starts at 13:45 ET / 19:45 CET / 20:45 local time in Minsk.

In their first year in the top division of the IIHF World Championship after the return from DIvision IA, all that Italy needs for their last game in group A is nothing less than a miracle.

After only winning once against France (2-1) but losing all other games against Norway (0-3), Denmark (1-4), Czech Republic (0-2), Canada (1-6) and Slovakia (1-4) and currently are 8th and thus on the last spot in their group which means relegation back to Division IA.

To avoid relegation Italy must win in regular time against gold medal favourites Sweden to let Denmark behind themselves who lost 2-6 earlier today against the tournament's sensation France.

On the other side everything is going as planned for Sweden. The Scandinavians have a 4-1-1-0 winning record that positions them as second in group A with 15 points in 6 games, right behind Canada and they are already qualified for the quarterfinals. So far Sweden faced Denmark (3-0), Czech Republic (4-3 SO), Norway (2-1), France (2-1) before they lost their last game against Canada (2-3 OT).

If Italy can get their miracle to avoid relegation or if Sweden ends the group stage with a positive result, we'll see in less than two hours!

Starting lineups:

Italy: Bellissimo (Andreas Bernard) – Egger, Nicoletti, Hofer, Borgatello, Sullivan, Larkin, Johnson, Trivellato – Borrelli, Ihnacak, Rocco – Scandella, di Casmirro, Kostner – Gander, Felicetti, Tudin – Insam, Anton Bernard, Ramoser. Head Coach: Tom Pokel.

Sweden: Eriksson (Ullmark) – Fransson, Ekholm, Burström, Andersen, Erixon, Gustafsson, Nygren – Axelsson, Möller, Backlund – Järnkrok, Nyquist, Klasen – Hjalmarsson, Sjögren, Ericsson – Lundqvist, Rasmussen, Danielsson. Head Coach: Pär Mårts

Referees: Gofman (RUS), Šindler (CZE) – Carnathan (USA), Raming (RUS)

The Swedes have their first double chance but Gustav Nyquist isn't able to beat Bellissimo with the rebound from close to the left circle.

The Swedes keep the pressure high and they already recoreded 3 shots on target.

A shot by the Scandinavians from the right wing misses the Italian net to the left.

Offside call against Italy.

Jimmie Ericsson receives a pass from the left circle but his scoring attempt from close to the goalie crease goes wide.

A shot from within the slot by Linus Klasen is deflected by the leg of a defender but Gustav Nyquist fails to use the following rebound.

Daniel Tudin creates the first danger in front of the Swedish net after finnishing a counter on his own but from close to the left circle he is not able to surprise Eriksson in the net.

After several minutes of high pressure by the Swedes, the outsiders from Southern Europe manage to win some pucks inside the neutral zone.

Luca Felicetti with a scoring attempt from the left wing but a defender blocks the shot to the side.

Brian Ihnacak appears in front of the Swedish net but with a quick reaction Eriksson is able to deflect the puck over the crossbar with his glove hand.

Italy take over the initiative and earn another face off inside the Swedish third.

A shot by Columbus' Tim Erixon from the left circle comes dangeroulsy towards the right bottom corner, especially after a Swede let the puck go through his legs, but Bellissimo stays calm and makes a pad save!

Both teams are back at full strength.

The game goes back and forth at the moment without much action in front of either net.

A brilliant pass through two defensemen opens the next opportunity for the Swedes but Bellissimo waits till the last moment and then blocks the short distance attempt with his body.

Icing against Italy.

After falling behind, Italy again become a bit more aggressive with their offensive efforts.

After a pass from behind the net, Mattias Ekholm misses the Italian goal to the left.

Niclas Andersen tries it from the left circle but Bellissimo has a good view and no trouble to keep that puck outside.

Sweden try to take over the iniatiive from the begin of the period. Oscar Möller's attempt from the right wing is no danger for Bellissimo though.

Niclas Burstrom with a free shooting lane but in the last moment an opponent throws himself into the way and blocks the puck.

On the other side of the ice Daniel Tudin with a dangerous shot from the left circle that forces Eriksson to deflect the puck wide with a quick reaction by his stick hand.

After receiving a pass from behind the net, Italy's Marco Insam tries it with a one-timer from within the slot but Eriksson is able to blcok the puck to the side.

Gustav Nyquist skates towards the Italian net after receiving the puck at the blue line and coming from the right side but from short distance he is stopped with a pad save by Bellissimo.

The Swedes keep the puck inside the Italian third for quite a long time but fail to create a real scoring opportunity.

Italy with a couple of long clearances but no attack by themselves.

Magnus Nygren with a blue line shot that causes no trouble for Team Italy.

Oscar Möller with the next blast from the blue line but also his shot misses the target.

Linus Klasen battles well for the puck against two defensemen but is denied a goal by Bellissimo. He gets back the rebound though and from close to the right circle almost scores a goal from a sharp angle but again the Italian goalie is in his way.

Johan Fransson with a long solo, already goes for a shot on target just after crossing the blue line. Easy save for Bellissimo against the weakly placed attempt.

Linius Klasen works his way through the completel Italian defnse but then has to skate behind the net after the pressure by his opponents became too high... the following distance shot by a team colleague is not dangerous at all.

After a pass by Linus Klasen it is Gustav Nyquist who goes for a wrist shot from within the slot that is blocked by Bellissimo.

Jimmie Ericsson goes for a back hand shot from the right circle but misses the target to the left...

A couple of dangerous rushes by the Italians but they fail to get a shot on goal.

Delayed penalty against Italy and Eriksson leafves his net for an additional attacker.

Oscar Möller almost surprises Bellissimo with a shot from within the slot.

Anton Bernard (Italy) gets two minutes for tripping.

Italy continue to defend very aggressively and want to keep the result as low as possible.

After a pass from behind the net, an Italian defender is able to clear the situation in the last moment.

Believe it or not, Linus Klasen now has collected 4 (!) assists in this games and participated in all goals of his team!

High speed rush by the Italians but the following shot from the left circle missed the net to the right.

Klasen sents Nyquist in the search of another break away but this time the time runs out before the chance can be created.

Bad luck for the Italians. First Giulio Scandella misplaced his back hand pass from behind the net and then Markus Gander, scorer of Italy's only goal this evening, missed the puck during a one-timer attempt!

Sweden are trying to take over the initiative once more but Italy are defending high.

David Borrelli with a pass to the right during an Italian counter for his team mate Brian Ihnacak who then couldn't get the puck on target after being stopped unfair by Swedish defender Oscar Möller.

A one-timer by Diego Kostner from the blue line misses the Swedish net.

The Swedes just fire the puck deep into the Italian third during a clearing attempt. Something you don't see very often by the favourites from the North of Europe.

Sweden are back at full strength.

Nice effort by Anton Bernard who is able to defend the puck against three players behind the Swedish net despite being pushed to the ground twice.

Nice combination over Nyquist – Klasen – Ekholm – Fransson but the powerful shot is stopped by Bellissimo.

Beautiful solo by Mattias Sjogren who makes it past three opponents with several well-timed dekes but then he is stopped inside the Italian third and almost causes a counter attack...

Linus Klasen, the four-assist man, with a scoring opportunity himself but from the left circle his try is stopped by Bellissimo.

Tim Erixon twice with powerful shots from the left wing at height of the blue line but first the puck went wide past the right bottom corner and then Bellissimo made a stop.

It looks like the Swedes want to show the fans in the arena something for the final minutes and they are shooting from all possible angles.

Dick Axelsson gets a perfect assist waiting in front of the goalie crease but fails to use the big opportunity.

The third period shots are 10 to 0 in favour of Sweden but they failed to increase the score yet.

Big glove save by Bellissimo against a well-placed wrist shot from the left circle.

Two minutes are left on the clock and the only question left is if the Swedes make it half a dozen or not.

Giulio Scandella and Daniel Tudin start a counter for Italy but are pushed into the boards by the Swedish defense...