The US actually has the easiest path to a playoff spot to go.
Not only are they in second place at the moment, but their last two games are against Germany and the Covid-stricken Italians. Granted, the team really had a hard time defeating
For Germany, they are hitting "must win" territory. They started things off with the expected wins over Italy and Norway, then had a valiant victory over Canada, but they've lost to Kazakhstan (unexpected) and Finland by tight 3-2 and 2-1 scores, losing each in the last ten minutes of the game with an unforced error.
If the US wins today, they'll move into first place with just the game against Italy to go.
If Germany loses, they'll then face Latvia in a game that'll decide who finishes fourth in the division.
Canada is BTW still in the running and tied with Germany for 4th, albeit with one less game in hand.