BERN, Switzerland — The United States broke open a close game with four goals in the third period, beating Austria 6-1 on Monday to reach the second round of the ice hockey world championship.
Dustin Brown had a goal and two assists, and Patrick O’Sullivan and Jason Blake each added a goal and an assist for the Americans. Drew Stafford, Lee Stempniak and defenseman Matt Niskanen also scored goals.
U.S. coach Ron Wilson challenged his team when it led 2-1 after two periods.
“I think they responded somewhat to my challenge,” Wilson said. “We could have put it away fairly early had we scored on some of our wide open chances. We were a little bit casual.”
The United States beat Latvia 4-2 on Saturday and is assured of reaching the second round, which features two groups of six teams beginning play Thursday. The U.S. finishes Group C play against Sweden, which was stunned Monday by Latvia 3-2 in a shootout, on Wednesday.
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