Russia's Yevgeni Kuznetsov celebrates a goal against Latvia during the third period of play.STRINGER/CANADA/Reuters
Russian captain Yevgeni Kuznetsov had three goals and six assists Thursday in a 14-0 rout of Latvia in Group A action at the IIHF world junior hockey championship.
Kuznetsov's nine point performance was the second-highest single-game point total in tournament history. Sweden's Peter Forsberg had 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in a 20-1 rout of Japan at the 1993 tournament.
Nikita Gusev had two goals and five assists as Russia improved to 3-0 and increased its lead over Sweden in Pool A to four points. Russia faces Sweden on Saturday.
Nikita Nesterov added a goal and two assists, and Alexander Khokhlachev had two goals. Artyom Sergeyev, Yaroslav Kosov, Grigori Zheldakov, Mikhail Grigorenko, Pavel Kulikov and Ignat Zemchenko also scored.
Nail Yakupov and Nikita Kucherov added three assists apiece, while Viktor Antipin had two.
Andrei Vasilevski made 30 saves for his second straight shutout.
Elvis Merzlikins made 36 saves for Latvia, which fell to 0-3.