OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Montreal Canadiens prospect Cole Caufield scored in overtime to give the United States a 4-3 win over the Czech Republic on Monday at the world junior hockey championship.
With a win in their final preliminary-round game, the Americans ensured they will finish no worse than second in Group B.
If Canada loses to the Czech Republic on Tuesday, the U.S., will finish first.
Caufield, a first-round Habs pick this year (15th overall), scored his first of the tournament 3:14 into the five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime when he converted a pass from University of Wisconsin teammate Alex Turcotte.
Shane Pinto, Arthur Kaliyev and Jack Drury also scored for the Americans.
Libor Zabransky, with two, and Petr Cajka scored for the Czech Republic.
The Czechs were furious when they had a goal waved off for goaltender interference while trailing 3-2 in the third. However, the Americans were called for a penalty on the play and Cajka then scored on the power play to tie it.
The host team lost key forward Jan Jenik to injury late in the second. The Hamilton Bulldogs star went down clutching his right leg after a hit.
The Czechs got one point for the overtime loss, setting up a huge Russia-Germany game on Tuesday.
If Russia loses, it will be eliminated and head to the relegation round.
Germany would be eliminated with a regulation-time loss, but the Czech Republic's result against Canada would come into play if the Germans take Russia to overtime.
SWEDEN 6 KAZAKHSTAN 2
TRINEC — Sweden extended its win streak to 51 games in the preliminary round with a convincing victory over Kazakhstan.
Samuel Fagemo, with two goals for the second game in a row, Linus Oberg, Nils Hoglander, Jonatan Berggren and Lucas Raymond scored for the Swedes.
Sweden leads Group A with two regulation wins and an overtime win.
Sweden's preliminary-round win streak stretches back to 2007, but the country has captured just one gold (2012) during the run.
Oleg Boiko and Maxim Musorov scored for Kazakhstan (0-4), which will head to the relegation round.
Swedish backup goalie Jesper Eliasson made his world junior debut, finishing with 17 saves.
Sweden outshot Kazakhstan 35-19.
Sweden can secure top spot in the group with a win over Slovakia on Tuesday.
SWITZERLAND 7 SLOVAKIA 2
TRINEC — Switzerland took sole possession of third place in Group A with an easy win over Slovakia.
Gilian Kohler, with two, Sandro Schmid, Valentin Nussbaumer, Simon Knak, Mika Henauer and Matthew Verboon scored for the Swiss. Nussbaumer added three assists.
Martin Fasko-Rusas and Robert Dzugan scored for Slovakia, which sits fourth in the group.
Switzerland wraps up the preliminary round against Finland on Tuesday.
CANADA 4 GERMANY 1
OSTRAVA — Canada moved into the driver's seat in Group B with a win over Germany.
With two wins and a loss so far, Canada can clinch top spot in the group with a win over the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Nolan Foote, Liam Foudy, Calen Addison and Ty Dellandrea scored for Canada.
Yannik Valenti replied for Germany, which has one win and two losses.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2019.
The Canadian Press
