Colin White, USA Roll In To Quarterfinals; Will Face Czech Republic

The US world junior team wrapped up group play with a fairly easy 4-1 win over Denmark today in Helsinki, locking down 2nd place in group A as they prepare for the knockout stages. Colin White scored another goal in the US's victory and is now #5 among all scorers at the tournament.

This victory, combined with the Czech Republic's loss to Finland in the last Group B game, means that the Americans will face the Czechs, who finished in third place in the group, in Saturday's final quarterfinal matchup (1 PM ET, NHL Network). The other quarterfinal matchups are Finland vs. Canada, Sweden vs. Slovakia, and Russia vs. Denmark. The winner of the US/Czech game will face the winner of Russia/Denmark in the semis.

Denmark hung around for most of this game and trailed just 2-1 in the third period when Colin White decided it was time for the Americans to add some insurance. White scored a goal that was quickly disallowed after it was determined he kicked the puck in the net, but literally seconds later off the ensuing faceoff White made a great tip of an Auston Matthews shot to extend the US's lead.

After a disallowed goal, Colin White gets it right back with this deflection of an Auston Matthews shot pic.twitter.com/YzhecWJvlO

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) December 31, 2015

Anders Bjork scored the US's fourth goal, joining White, Matthews, and Matt Tkachuk as US goal scorers.

Canada and Sweden are playing a meaningless game at the moment to close out the group stages, with Sweden holding a 2-0 lead. All four quarterfinals will be played on Saturday, with the US now just needing one win to get to play for a medal.