Jason Robertson scored at 18:56 of the second period on the U.S.’s first power play of the game to send the Americans to a 2-0 victory over Germany in a critical Group B game. 

The win gives the U.S. a tie for first place with Finland. Both teams have 15 points, and the Americans play their final game tomorrow, against winless Italy, while the Finns also have one more game, a much tougher date, with Canada, thus giving the U.S. the inside edge on first place.

"It was a fast game," Robertson noted. "A lot of credit to Germany. We got away from our structure in the offensive zone, but they played really fast. We could have changed more, sustained more pressure. We got away from that a little bit. Our power play came up big and we got good goaltending from Cal. We got the job done."

Germany, however, is in a precarious position with the loss. They remain in a three-way tie for fourth with Latvia and Canada, and after the Finland-Canada game tomorrow the Germans and Latvians meet. The results of these games will determine the fourth and final playoff participant.

It was the fifth win in a row for the Americans after starting with a loss, and they have now allowed just six goals in as many games. Goalie Cal Petersen earned his second shutout today by stopping all 33 shots. The U.S. managed only 15 at Felix Bruckmann.

"They're a team that moves the puck really well, and they get guys in front of the net," Petersen remarked of Germany. "I knew they wanted to clog up the middle, get a lot of screens and rebounds. The team did really well to box guys out, so I saw a lot of shots, which is great. It was a group effort, shutting them down and getting the win."

"I think our team played a really good game," said German captain Moritz Muller. "I think we really put USA to the test, but unfortunately we couldn’t put the puck in the net. But from a playing standard I think this was a really good hockey game from our side. But now, it’s all about the game tomorrow. We gotta bring the same effort, same energy, same quality to the game and I’m very optimistic for tomorrow."

Robertson’s goal came after the Germans failed to clear the zone at least three times. Then, a Ryan Donato point shot was stopped by goalie Felix Bruckmann, but he couldn’t corral the loose puck. It was Robertson’s third goal of the tournament. 

The American started the second period by killing off two straight penalties, improving their superb penalty killing which has yielded only one goal in 16 man-disadvantage situations.

But not much before Robertson’s goal the U.S. bench sagged after a collision in the German end between captain Justin Abdelkader and a German player. Abdelkader dropped to the ice clutching his left knee and was helped to the dressing room. He did not return.

The game was a defensive struggle marked by cautious play between the blue lines. Scoring chances were few, odd-man rushes rare. 

As a result, of the importance of the game, the first period was a nervous one. Neither team tried to do anything fancy, John Peterka got a close-in chance early on, but Petersen was there with the stop. A little later, Eric Robinson picked the short corner high only to see Bruckmann get his body in front.

Later in the period, Korbinian Holzer moved right in and was stopped by Petersen with the right pad, and the goalie also pushed aside the rebound chance from Leonhard Pfoderl.

Petersen was at his best early in the third when the Germans had their most sustained pressure. He stopped Fabio Wagner twice in close with great saves, first on a tip and then on the rebound. The German momentum was dulled late in the game when Jonas Muller took a double minor for high-sticking Brian Boyle.