United States bounce back from Belarus defeat with narrow win over Denmark at Ice Hockey World Championship

The United States returned to form at the World Ice Hockey Championships by claiming a narrow 1-0 win over Denmark ©Getty Images

The United States bounced back from a disappointing defeat at the hands of Belarus by claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over Denmark at the men's Ice Hockey World Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Brock Nelson got the only goal of a tense contest during the second period to ensure his side returned to the summit of Group B.

The win maintains what has been an inconsistent tournament for the American outfit so far after they shocked defending champions Russia earlier in the week but then suffered a surprise loss to a dogged Belarussian outfit last night.

Hosts the Czech Republic, meanwhile, enjoyed another fruitful afternoon on home ice as they thumped Austria 4-0 in the opening match of the day.

After a tense first period, the Czechs blew their opponents away with a blistering performance in the second where they bagged three unanswered goals to put the result of the match beyond all doubt.

Ondrej Nemec scored the first of three goals in eight minutes with a perfectly-placed effort high into the net before Martin Zatovic doubled their lead shortly after.

Vladimir Sobotka then added his name to the scoresheet with a rasping drive, and the rout was completed by Jakub Voracek, who rubbed salt into the wounds with a late fourth.

The result keeps Austria languishing down in seventh place in Group A, while the second success for the Czechs cements their position in the top four.

The Czech Republic picked up their second straight win with a thumping 4-0 success over Austria in front of a raucous home crowd ©Getty Images

In the other match in the group, Matthias Plachta’s goal deep into the third period gave Germany a dramatic 2-1 win against Latvia.

Earlier on in the contest, Lauris Darzins had given the unfancied Latvians a shock lead but his effort was cancelled out by Michael Wolf in the final stanza.

With the match seemingly heading for a draw that would have done neither side any favours, Plachta struck a shot that came back off the crossbar and was eventually awarded as a goal after a video review.

The enthralling victory keeps them in fifth although they are now just two points adrift of Switzerland in fourth.

Elsewhere, Norway picked up their second straight win of the round-robin stage to keep their narrow hopes of reaching the next round alive as they comfortably beat Slovenia 3-1 in Group B.

Patrick Thoresen, Anders Bastiansen and Jonas Holos all found the net to heap more misery onto the hapless Slovenians, who remain without a win from their opening five matches of the competition.