Jack Hughes and the United States took care of business on Tuesday at cap off an undefeated run in the preliminary round of the U18 World Championships.

Hughes finished with a pair of assists as the United States cruised to a 7-1 victory over Latvia at Fjallraven Center in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team won Group B with a 4-0-0-0 mark in the preliminary round.

Through four games, Hughes, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, posted five goals and seven assists for 12 points — matching the 12 points he had in seven games during the 2018 tournament, where he was named MVP.

Hughes’ first assist Tuesday came on a pass to defenseman Cam York, who wrapped around to the right circle before snapping a shot into net at 10:48 of the second period. That goal gave the U.S. a 3-0 lead.

His second helper came as a secondary assist on Cole Caufield’s second goal of the game. Hughes had a dangerous shot saved before Trevor Zegras collected the rebound and hit Caufield on the left wing for a quick shot at 14:40 of the second period.

Next up

Hughes and the U.S. team will play Finland in the quarterfinals at either 9:30 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. The winner of that game will advance to the semifinals, while the loser will be done in the tournament.

Finland lost its first three games of the tournament, but it qualified for the quarterfinals with a 12-0 win over Switzerland on Tuesday, avoiding relegation.

Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.