The U.S. men’s hockey team rallied past Russia 5-3 on Tuesday, rolling into the world championship quarterfinals as a top seed.
The U.S. will play either the Czech Republic or Finland in the quarterfinals Thursday on NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app.
The Americans, with one Olympian on their roster (goalie Jimmy Howard), won their last six group-play games after losing the opener to worlds co-host Germany.
It’s the best U.S. record in group play since the annual tournament switched to a pair of eight-team groups in 2012.
The U.S. downed world powers Russia and Sweden (4-3) in group play, but the favorite is two-time defending champion Canada.