The U.S. built a three-goal first period lead and marched to a convincing 6-1 quarter-final victory over Slovakia on Thursday at Arena Riga.

The Czech Republic thumped Slovakia 7-3 on Tuesday to surpass their brotherly rivals in Group A and finish third with 13 points.

Victor Olosson’s power-play goal with 8:22 to play broke a 1-1 tie and, after an empty-netter, Sweden escaped with a 3-1 win and three points they desperately needed in their ongoing chase for a quarter-final berth.

Peter Cehlarik broke a scoreless tie with 12:47 remaining in regulation time, sparking Slovakia to a 2-0 victory over Denmark to move into a tie for first place in Group A.

Switzerland ended Slovakia’s streak of three straight regulation wins with a 8-1 romp on Thursday.

A power-play goal by Martin Gernat with 6:41 to play lifted Slovakia to a 2-1 victory over ROC, and temporarily into first place in Group A with a perfect 3-0 record after three games at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship.

Despite dominating the game from start to finish, Slovakia ran into a roadblock in the shape of British goalie Ben Bowns. He made 41 saves to keep this game alive before Craig Ramsay's team took a 2-1 verdict.