Milos Kelemen opened the scoring for Slovakia on the half-hour mark before ROC hit straight back with a strike from Alexander Barabanov.

Slovakia then upped the ante in the final period with goals from Martin Gernat and Marek Daloga in the space of five minutes.

Goaltender Julius Hudacek also provided a crucial role in the victory, stopping 27 of ROC’s 28 shots.

"It’s an awesome feeling," said Gernat. 

"We spoke after the second period about how one shot could win the game and I’m lucky that I was the goal scorer.

"We’re very happy with the win and the three points.

"It’s a great feeling."

Slovakia have an unblemished record so far in Group A having also registered victories over Britain and Belarus.

"We have to keep doing what we did in these three," added Gernat.

"I don’t know if it sends a message to the other teams here.

"We just go again, that’s all."

Latvia returned to winning ways in Group B with a 3-0 triumph against Italy.

Italian netminder Justin Fazio racked up 41 saves but his efforts were not enough to deny Latvia victory.

After a goalless opening period, Latvia’s pressure finally told on 32 minutes when Martin Karsums broke the deadlock.

Latvia then sealed an emphatic win with two goals in quick succession through Lauris Darzins and Karsums in the final period.

Kazakhstan defenceman Viktor Svedberg has been hit with a one-game ban by the IIHF’s independent disciplinary panel for cross-checking.

The incident occurred in the third period of Kazakhstan’s memorable shootout success against defending champions Finland yesterday.

The disciplinary panel determined that Svedberg’s actions were "extremely dangerous" and created a "serious risk of injury" to Jere Innala.

Svedberg will miss tomorrow’s meeting with the United States but will be eligible to play against Germany on Wednesday (May 26).

In the evening games, an entertaining contest saw the Czech Republic beat Belarus 3-2 after overtime in Group A.

After a goalless opening period, Belarus took the lead courtesy of Yegor Sharangovich before the Czechs gained the advantage thanks to two goals in a four minute spell by Jan Kovar and Filip Zadina.

Vladislav Yeryomenko levelled proceedings before the Czech Republic won it a minute into overtime courtesy of Dominik Kubalik.

Meanwhile Germany beat Canada 3-1 to make it three wins from three and go to the top of Group B.

Germany took a grip on the game in the first period when they scored two goals in less than a minute - courtesy of Stefan Loibl and Matthias Plachta.

Nick Paul pulled a goal back late in the first period for Canada, before Germany sealed the win with two minutes remaining in the match when Korbinian Holzer made it 3-1.