World Championship: Team USA to face Slovakia in the quarterfinals

Having already punched their ticket to the quarterfinals on Monday, the United States did themselves one better by earning the top seed in Group B with a 4-2 victory over Italy on Tuesday at the 2021 IIHF Men's World Championship in Riga, Latvia.

The U.S. closed out the preliminary round with six consecutive regulation victories, marking just the second time in World Championship history that Team USA has earned six regulation wins in the tournament (2017). With a 6-0-0-1 record (W-OTW-OTL-L) and 18 points, Team USA will take on Slovakia (fourth seed, Group A) in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, June 3 (time TBD). NHL Network will carry the quarterfinal, semifinal and medal contests.
Complete coverage: [Follow Oettinger, Robertson and Shea's quest for gold at Worlds]
With an assist in Tuesday's win, Stars forward Jason Robertson concluded preliminary-round play with seven points (3g/4a) in seven games. The 21-year-old finished second on Team USA in points and assists, and ranked tied for second in goals. Robertson earned points in six of the seven contests and scored the game winner in Team USA's 2-0 victory over Germany on Monday. Here's a clip of his primary assist in Tuesday's game.

Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger finished the prelims with a 3-0 record following his nine-save performance in Tuesday's win. In his three appearances, the 22-year-old stopped 57-of-61 shots and never gave up more than two goals in any of them. Oettinger made his debut in the tournament when he came on in relief of Anthony Stolarz five minutes into Team USA's second game of the prelims against Canada. He made 26 saves on 27 saves in the 5-1 victory, the United States' first win of the World Championship. His first start came on May 29 against Norway, which included a show-stopping glove save in a 2-1 win (see below).

Making his IIHF debut on Tuesday, Texas Stars defenseman Ryan Shea earned an assist on Team USA's opening goal with a nifty pass that sprung Kevin Labanc on a partial breakaway. On the play, Shea, 24, intercepted a clearing attempt in the neutral zone by batting the puck out of mid-air and pushing it forward to Labanc, who snapped a shot blocker-side past Italy goaltender Davide Fadani just 6:54 into the game.

Team USA was led by a pair of goals from Labanc and Conor Garland in the win on Tuesday. Labanc's two tallies gave him his first multi-point game of the tournament, while Garland's two goals gave him eight points (3g/5a) in seven games - tops on the team.
The 2021 IIHF World Championship is taking place in Riga, Latvia. The 16-nation tournament began May 21 and runs through June 6. For complete coverage, click here.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.