Day 3 of the 2026 IIHF World Championship is officially in the books with the second of four days featuring triple headers taking place in the host cities of Fribourg and Zurich.
The United States looked to pick up their first win of this year’s tournament as they took on Great Britain, while over in Group B, Slovakia were seeking their second victory in as many days as they faced Italy. In the second set of games on Day 3, Austria faced off against Hungary, with Denmark battling Sweden. To wrap things up on Sunday, Germany took on Latvia and Norway faced Slovenia.
United States (5) vs Great Britain (1) F
Following an off-day on Saturday, the United States was back in action as they faced Great Britain in the early game in Group A. Team USA opened the tournament with a 3-1 loss to the hosts, Switzerland, while Great Britain fell to Austria yesterday.
It took nearly 14 minutes for the game’s first goal as New Jersey Devils forward Paul Cotter put the United States up 1-0. Cotter’s first period marker was his first career goal in just his second ever game representing the United States at the senior men’s level and they held onto that lead after 20 minutes despite a strong effort from Great Britain.
After a quiet first eight and a half minutes of the middle frame, Great Britain got on the board with former Laval Rocket defenseman Nathanael Halbert firing one home from the point on the power play. Less than ten minutes later, the United States equalized as Isaac Howard put them up 2-1, which is where things would stand after two periods of play.
In the third period, the United States tacked on three more as Mathieu Olivier and Declan Carlile scored 15 seconds apart to give their nation a 4-1 lead. Later in the third, Isaac Howard would add another, sealing a 5-1 victory for the United States. Great Britain put up a good effort in this one, but fall to 0-0-0-2 in the tournament. They’ll have an off-day on Monday before facing Hungary in a massive game on Tuesday. Meanwhile for the United States, they’ll face Finland on Monday at 10:20 am ET (4:20 pm local).
Scoring Summary:
United States
- Paul Cotter (1). Assists: Mathieu Olivier, Max Sasson.
- Isaac Howard (1).
- Mathieu Olivier (1). Assists: Paul Cotter, Declan Carlile.
- Declan Carlile (1). Assists: Paul Cotter, Mathieu Olivier.
- Isaac Howard (2). Assists: Oliver Moore, Tommy Novak.
Great Britain
- Nathanael Halbert (1). Assists: Josh Waller, Brett Perlini.
Italy (1) vs Slovakia (4) F
Less than 24 hours after a 6-0 loss to Canada in their first game at the top division of the IIHF World Championship in four years, Italy was back in action as they took on Slovakia in the early game in Group B. Slovakia is coming off a tight 2-1 win over Norway on Saturday.
Slovakian captain Marek Hrivik picked up where he left off, scoring the game’s opening goal on Sunday in Fribourg as his nation took a 1-0 lead into the locker room after 20 minutes. It took Slovakia over nine minutes into the second period to find the back of the net again, with Viliam Kmec giving his nation a 2-0 lead.
30 seconds into the final frame, Slovakia extended their lead to 3-0 thanks to Kristian Pospisil, who picked up his second of the tournament in as many days. Over four and a half minutes later, Italy made IIHF World Championship history. With his goal, Gabriel Nitz became the first ever player born in the Dominican Republic to score at the World Championship. It also marked Itay’s first top division goal since May 23rd, 2022 against Kazakhstan.
Flash forward nine minutes later and the Slovaks regained their three-goal lead thanks to Oliver Okuliar’s first career IIHF World Championship goal. Italy would outshoot Slovakia 14-7 in the third period, but they were unable to find the back of the net for a second time, as the Slovaks held on for a 4-1 win.
Scoring Summary:
Italy
- Gabriel Nitz (1).
Slovakia
- Marek Hrivik (2). Assists: Mislav Rosandic, Filip Mesar.
- Viliam Kmec (1). Assists: Sebastian Cederle, Martin Fasko-Rudas.
- Kristian Pospisil (2). Assists: Martin Pospisil, Martin Fasko-Rudas.
- Oliver Okuliar (1). Assists: Martin Pospisil, Martin Chromiak.
Austria (4) vs Hungary (2) F
After a big 5-2 win over Great Britain on Saturday, Austria was looking to pick up another three points on Sunday as they took on Hungary, who fell to Finland yesterday by a score of 4 to 2. With a huge game coming up against Great Britain, Hungary was looking to get into the win column for the first time in the tournament on Sunday in order to put themselves in a good position ahead of Tuesday’s clash.
Austria got the scoring started on the power play in the first period as Montreal Canadiens prospect Vinzenz Rohrer picked up his first of the tournament to give his nation the lead five minutes into the contest. Hungary would answer back a bit later on in the opening frame as six minutes later, also while on the power play, Istvan Sofron tied things up at 1-1.
The two nations headed to the third period knotted up at 1-1 following a scoreless middle frame and despite leading 17-15 in the shot department after 40 minutes, Hungary couldn’t withhold Austria for much longer. On the power play a little over six minutes into the third period, Dominic Zwerger recorded his first goal of the tournament, giving Austria their second lead of the night. Less than a minute later, the Austrians struck again, with defenseman Thimo Nickl giving his nation a two-goal lead.
Hungary would get back within one on the power play over halfway through the final frame thanks to Peter Vincze. However, that’s as close as Hungary would get, with Thimo Nickl adding an empty net goal with three seconds remaining to give Austria a 4-2 victory.
Scoring Summary:
Austria
- Vinzenz Rohrer (1). Assists: Peter Schneider, Clemens Unterweger.
- Dominic Zwerger (1). Assists: Clemens Unterweger, Peter Schneider.
- Thimo Nickl (1). Assist: Paul Huber.
- Thimo Nickl (2).
Hungary
- Istvan Sofron (1). Assists: Marko Csollak, Balazs Sebok.
- Peter Vincze (1). Assists: Jano Hari, Kristof Papp.
Denmark (2) vs Sweden (6) F
Two days after opening the tournament with a loss against one of the other gold medal favourites, Canada, Sweden was back in action as they took on Denmark, who are coming off a 4-1 loss to Czechia on Friday afternoon. With Canada moving to 2-0-0-0 following yesterday’s win over Italy, Sweden knew they had to pick up the three points today to keep pace in Group B and avoid their first place aspirations from slipping away.
Nearly halfway through the first period, Edmonton Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm wired home his second of the tournament after a slick drop pass from Viggo Bjorck to give Sweden a 1-0 lead. Later in the opening frame, Swedish captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson extended his nation’s lead to 2-0 and that’s where things stood following the first 20 minutes.
Early on in the second period, while on the power play, Lucas Raymond scored for the second time in as many games to give Sweden a 3-0 lead. The Swedes didn’t stop there as less than three minutes after Raymond’s goal, former NHLer Jakob Silfverberg scored to make it 4-0 less than halfway through the game. Not long after Silfverberg’s goal, Denmark got on the board for the first time in the game courtesy of Joachim Blichfeld. Sweden would add a fifth before the end of the second period as projected 2026 top-ten pick Viggo Bjorck scored his first career IIHF World Championship goal to make it 5-1.
Less than 12 minutes into the third period, Denmark would add another as Mikkel Aagaard scored his second goal of the tournament to cut Sweden’s lead back to three. Linus Karlsson would restore Sweden’s four-goal lead with less than five to play as Sam Hallam’s group would hold on for their first win of the 2026 IIHF World Championship, 6-2.
Scoring Summary:
Denmark
- Joachim Blichfeld (1). Assists: Phillip Bruggisser, Nick Olesen.
- Mikkel Aagaard (2). Assists: Joachim Blichfeld, Nick Olesen.
Sweden
- Mattias Ekholm (2). Assists: Viggo Bjorck, Lucas Raymond.
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson (1). Assists: Lucas Raymond, Ivar Stenberg.
- Lucas Raymond (2). Assists: Joel Persson, Jacob de la Rose.
- Jakob Slifverberg (1). Assists: Carl Grundstrom, Robert Hagg.
- Viggo Bjorck (1). Assists: Ivar Stenberg, Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
- Linus Karlsson (1). Assists: Simon Holmstrom, Albert Johansson.
Germany (0) vs Latvia (2) F
Coming into the tournament expectations weren’t super high for Germany, but the federation knew that making the playoffs needed to happen after missing out last year for the first time since 2018. The Germans started the tournament with a 3-1 loss to Finland on Friday and were back in action on Sunday against Latvia.
24 hours after an impressive performance against Switzerland, Latvian netminder Kristers Gudlevskis stood on his head in this one. Latvia controlled the play in the first period, outshooting Germany 11-5, with Martins Dzierkals picking up his first of the tournament late in the open frame to make it 1-0.
Early on in the second period, Rudolfs Balcers continued his hot start to the 2026 IIHF World Championship, scoring his third goal of the tournament to extend Latvia’s lead to 2-0. That’s all Latvia would need on Sunday to pick up a massive three points against Germany, with Kristers Gudlevskis making 25 saves for his third career shutout at the IIHF World Championship.
Scoring Summary:
Latvia
- Martins Dzierkals (1). Assist: Oskars Batna.
- Rudolfs Balcers (3). Assist: Deniss Smirnovs.
Norway (4) vs Slovenia (0) F
Without question, Saturday was one of the best days in Slovenian hockey history as they came from behind to defeat Czechia, for the first time ever at the IIHF World Championship, in overtime. It was an emotional win for Slovenia, but they had to put that game in the rearview mirror as they had a date with Norway on Sunday.
This one didn’t go as Slovenia was hoping as less than eight minutes into the first period, Sander Hurrod scored his first ever goal for Norway’s senior men’s national team, making it a 1-0 game. Norway blew the doors open on this one in the second period as 34-year-old forward Jacob Berglund picked up a natural hat trick, giving his nation a 4-0 lead. With his three goals in the second, Berglund is up to five goals in nine games in his career at the IIHF World Championship.
It was a very quiet third period as both nations combined for just five shots (4-1 Norway). Henrik Haukeland, who had a solid year with the Straubing Tigers in the DEL, turned aside all 11 shots he faced to register his third career IIHF World Championship shutout. Haukeland also added an assist in Sunday’s win on Jacob Berglund’s second of the night.
Scoring Summary:
Norway
- Sander Hurrod (1). Assists: Kristian Ostby, Havard Ostrem Salsten.
- Jacob Berglund (1). Assists: Tinus Luc Koblar, Stian Solberg.
- Jacob Berglund (2). Assists: Kristian Ostby, Henrik Haukeland.
- Jacob Berglund (3). Assists: Havard Ostrem Salsten, Johannes Johannesen.
Standings
Group A
| Nation | GP | W | OT/SOW | OT/SOL | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 4 | +18 | 12 |
| Finland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 9 |
| Austria | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 9 |
| United States | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 13 | -1 | 5 |
| Hungary | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | +/-0 | 3 |
| Latvia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 3 |
| Germany | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 15 | -10 | 1 |
| Great Britain | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | -12 | 0 |
Group B
| Nation | GP | W | OT/SOW | OT/SOL | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czechia | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 10 |
| Canada | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 4 | +12 | 9 |
| Slovakia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 8 |
| Sweden | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 11 | +7 | 6 |
| Norway | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 6 |
| Slovenia | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 17 | -10 | 3 |
| Denmark | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 15 | -11 | 0 |
| Italy | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 17 | -15 | 0 |
My 3 Stars of Day 3
- Paul Cotter (United States) – 1 goal, 2 assists vs Great Britain.
- Kristers Gudlevskis (Latvia) – 25 save shutout vs Germany
- Jacob Berglund (Norway) – 3 goals vs Slovenia.
Day 4 Schedule (Monday, May 18th)
- Finland vs United States (10:20 am ET)
- Canada vs Denmark (10:20 am ET)
- Germany vs Switzerland (2:20 pm ET)
- Sweden vs Czechia (2:20 pm ET)
(Image Source: Salvatore Di Nolfi – AP/NTB)