Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist for the United States in a 6-3 victory against Denmark in their second preliminary-round game at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday.
The U.S. beat Latvia 5-1 in their tournament opener on Thursday.
Matt Boldy, Brady Tkachuk, Noah Hanifin, Jake Guentzel and Jack Hughes also scored, and Jeremy Swayman made 18 saves for the U.S., which will play Germany in its final preliminary round game on Sunday at 3:10 p.m. ET.
Nick Olesen, Nicholas B. Jensen and Phillip Bruggisser scored, and Mads Sogaard had 32 saves for Denmark before leaving midway through the third period with a lower-body injury.
Frederik Dichow came in and made seven saves.
Olesen was credited with the first goal of the game after his rebound went off the skate of U.S. defenseman Zach Werenski and through Swayman’s pads to give Denmark a 1-0 lead at 1:40 of the first period.
The U.S. tied it 1-1 at 3:35 of the first when Boldy scored on a wraparound. Swayman surrendered a goal on a long shot by Jensen from just inside the red line to move Denmark ahead 2-1 at 11:16.
Tkachuk and Eichel each scored off faceoff wins in the Denmark zone 57 seconds apart to move the U.S. ahead 3-2 at 10:23 of the second.
Slovakia wins Group B despite loss to Sweden
MILAN, Italy (FLM) — Slovakia lost the battle but won the war against Sweden on Saturday, as it clawed its way to the top of Group B on goal differential despite losing to the Nordic powerhouse 5-3, earning a bye into the men’s ice hockey quarterfinals.
In other group action, Finland walloped Italy 11-0 and Latvia fought back to edge Germany 4-3 on the fourth day of the tournament.
Slovakia, Sweden and Finland each had two wins and a loss when the dust settled on the tournament’s most competitive group of the preliminary stage, but Slovakia scored in the final minute to ensure it could bypass Tuesday’s qualification round.