New Zealand faces two must-win games in the under-20 world championships (division three) at the Dunedin Ice Stadium this weekend.
Wins against Turkey tonight and China tomorrow will see New Zealand, which is stacked with 10 players from the Southern region, win gold and gain promotion to the second division next year.
If the team is to go all the way, it will need to bounce back from a tough 3-2 loss on penalties to Mexico on Thursday night.
The game went to penalties after the score was locked at 2-2 after 65 minutes, including five minutes of overtime.
Coach Stephen Reid rued several missed chances but credited a stout defensive effort from Mexico.
''We definitely had the opportunities, but unfortunately we couldn't get the bounces to go our way. Take your hats off to Mexico by getting bodies in front of the shots.
''It was tough to get it through to their goalie, and when we did, their goalie [Jaime Perez] played a really good game,'' he said.
''They are a talented team. We knew we were up for it. We have taken a positive, we still got a point out of the game for taking it to overtime, which still leaves us with a chance in the tournament.''
Southern players Joseph Orr and Lachlan Frear both scored goals in the second period after Mexico had twice gone ahead, but the New Zealanders faltered in the shootout against standout goalkeeper Perez.
Reid said the loss ''definitely hurt'', and he gave his side the day off yesterday to ''clear their heads a little bit''.
The upset loss to Mexico came after the Kiwis opened the tournament with a convincing 5-1 win against South Africa on Tuesday night.
Callum Burns, Orr, Maxwell Macharg, Benedict Roth and Tayler Kennedy all got on the scoresheet in the win.
China, the top-ranked side in the tournament ahead of New Zealand, has rattled off wins against Mexico, Turkey and South Africa and is the clearly the team to beat.
The final match of the championships between New Zealand and China tomorrow night will most likely decide the gold medal winner, but Reid is not looking past Turkey tonight.
''We have watched them play a couple of times. The first game, you could definitely tell they had just got off a big flight and weren't firing on all cylinders,'' Reid said.
''[On Thursday] night they played China and played a really good game. They have got a good goalkeeper and they are definitely not a team we can take easy.
''The way we are treating it, we have just got to keep winning.''
Aside from a few bumps and bruises, New Zealand has a fully fit squad for the final two games.
The puck for tonight's game against Turkey and tomorrow's against China drops at 7pm.
