US beats Germany 2-0 for 5th straight win at worlds

Published May. 31, 2021 5:34 p.m. ET

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RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Cal Petersen had 33 saves for his second consecutive shutout and the United States won its fifth straight game at world hockey championship with a 2-0 victory over Germany on Monday.

Jason Robertson and Colin Blackwell scored for the U.S., which will close out its preliminary round games on Tuesday against winless Italy.

“That’s a really good hockey team, full credit to them,” U.S. coach Jack Capuano said of Germany. “Our guys made sacrifices, stuck to the structure and found a way to win. I’m really impressed with how we’ve come together so far and now we’ve got one more game here to finish our group play on a positive before getting ready for the quarterfinal.”

The win was the third in the tournament for Petersen, who plays for the Los Angeles Kings. Germany outshot the U.S. 33-15.

Russia edged Sweden 3-2 in a shootout, eliminating the Swedes after the preliminary round for the first time since the current round-robin play was adopted in 2012.

Russia took over the lead in Group A with 13 points after St. Louis' Vladimir Tarasenko, playing in his first game in the tournament, scored the winner on the final shot of the shootout.

Switzerland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic also will advance from Group A to the quarterfinals, starting Wednesday.

Sweden's Victor Olofsson scored with 4:43 left in regulation to tie the game.

Anton Slepyshev and Alexander Barabanov scored in a 12-second span with less than eight minutes to play to give Russia a 2-1 lead. Jesper Froden had given the Swedes the lead in the first period.

Also in Group A, Filip Chytil scored the shootout winner as the Czechs beat Denmark 2-1. The Czechs have four straight wins after losing their first two games. The loss eliminated Denmark quarterfinal contention.

Dominik Kubalik scored for the Czechs and Nicklas Jensen had his fifth goal of the tournament for Denmark to force overtime.

In the other Group B game, Stefan Espeland broke a tie early in the third period and Norway posted a 3-1 win over Kazakhstan, preventing the Kazakhs from securing their first berth in the quarterfinals.

Finland and the U.S. both have 15 points and have advanced to the quarterfinals. Germany, Canada and Latvia have nine points with a game to play in the round.

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More AP sports coverage from Europe: https://apnews.com/hub/sports-europe and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Vladimir Tarasenko