The Czech Republic overcame a stellar performance from Kazakhstan goaltender Vitali Kolesnik to secure a 3-1 win at the ice hockey world championships on Friday and tighten their grip on first place in Group A.
Kolesnik blocked 33 of 35 shots but it was not enough to stop a Czech Republic that are undefeated in five games.
"It was tough for us today because we played yesterday as well," the Czech Republic's Jan Kolar told the International Ice Hockey Federation website.
"We weren't too worried that it was taking a long time to get the game wrapped up. In a tournament like this you sometimes just have to grind out the win without playing pretty."
Up next for the Czech Republic is a game against Denmark on Sunday while Kazakhstan face Latvia on Saturday.
The United States, powered by a pair of goals from Nick Foligno, breezed by winless Hungary 5-1 in Group B for their third win in five games to move into third place, two points ahead of Germany.
"In the first period we dominated," US forward Auston Matthews said.
"We had a ton of shots and we limited them to one. We were producing a lot of scoring chances, but their goalie played extremely well. In the end, we kind of broke him down a little bit and were able to get a couple on him."
Germany moved into contention for a quarter-final spot after beating Belarus 5-2, while Nicklas Jensen scored the overtime winner for Denmark in a 3-2 victory over Latvia.
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