The preliminary round at the 2026 IIHF World Championship is in full swing as we’ve entered Day 4 of the tournament. In a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal, Canada looked for revenge against Denmark, while over in Group A, the United States looked to make it two wins in two days as they took on Finland.
In the second game of the day in Group A, Germany looked to avoid a third straight loss to open up the tournament as they took on the hosts, Switzerland. Germany has struggled offensively in their first two games, scoring just once, which came back on Friday against Finland. Meanwhile in Group B, Sweden, who is coming off a 6-2 win over Denmark, faces Czechia as both nations look to remain in the mix for first place, which Canada occupied coming into Monday.
Finland (6) vs United States (2) F
The United States came into action on Monday looking to pick up their second win of the tournament after a 5-1 victory over Great Britain in the early game on Sunday. Standing in their way was Aleksandar Barkov and Finland, who came into Monday 2-0-0-0 after wins over Germany and Hungary.
It was all Finland from the moment the puck dropped in the first period as six minutes into the game, Lenni Hameenaho of the New Jersey Devils scored his first of the tournament to make it 1-0. Less than two minutes later, the United States would strike back as Matt Coronato tied the game at 1-1. The game wouldn’t stay tied for long as a minute later, the Finns regained the lead thanks to Patrik Puistola’s first of the tournament. Finland would add a third in the opening period courtesy of Vancouver Canucks forward Aatu Raty, who put home his second of the World Championship to make it 3-1.
United States goaltender Joseph Woll allowed three goals on eight shots in the opening frame and in order for his nation to stay in the game, he had to be sharp in the second period, however, the opposite happened. Woll allowed the first two shots he faced in the middle frame, with Lenni Hameenaho and Saku Maenalanen making it 5-1, forcing the United States to make a goaltending change.
A little over three minutes into the third period, the United States got on the board for the second time in the game as Ryan Leonard scored his first of the tournament, cutting Finland’s lead to three. Three minutes later, Florida Panthers forward Anton Lundell would pick up Finland’s sixth goal of the contest as his nation remained undefeated thanks to a 6-2 win.
Scoring Summary:
Finland
- Lenni Hameenaho (1).
- Patrik Puistola (1). Assists: Lenni Hameenaho, Olli Maatta.
- Aatu Raty (2). Assists: Mikko Lehtonen, Hannes Bjorninen.
- Lenni Hameenaho (2). Assists: Mikko Lehtonen, Janne Kuokkanen.
- Saku Maenalanen (1). Assists: Olli Maatta, Waltteri Merela.
- Anton Lundell (2).
United States
- Matt Coronato (1). Assist: Oliver Moore.
- Ryan Leonard (1). Assists: Ryan Ufko, Justin Faulk.
Canada (5) vs Denmark (1) F
Denmark has given Canada all they can handle in recent years. Back in 2022, the Dane defeated Canada in the preliminary round and did so once again last spring, albeit in the quarterfinals, ensuring their highest finish ever at the IIHF World Championship.
Today’s game was no exception. Despite outshooting Denmark 27-9 after 40 minutes, the game remained scoreless, largely in part to Danish netminder Nicolaj Henriksen, who was making his first career appearance at the IIHF World Championship. Henriksen did all he could to keep Denmark in the contest, but in the third period, Canada blew the game wide open.
28 seconds into the final frame, Porter Martone put Canada up 1-0 on a great play from Macklin Celebrini and Sidney Crosby. Less than three minutes later, Gabe Vilardi picked up his first goal for the senior men’s national team to extend Canada’s lead to 2-0. 31 seconds after Vilardi doubled Canada’s lead, defenseman Denton Mateychuk scored his first career IIHF World Championship goal to make it 3-0.
Just over halfway through the third period, Nick Olesen, who scored the game-winning goal against Canada in the quarterfinals last May, got Denmark on the board, cutting the lead to two. Canada’s Ryan O’Reilly regained his nation’s three goal lead less than two minutes later, making it 4-1. Parker Wotherspoon iced it for Canada with under 30 seconds remaining in the game, assisted by his Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Sidney Crosby. The future Hall of Famer finished the game with four assists, earning Player of the Game honours.
Scoring Summary:
Canada
- Porter Martone (1). Assists: Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini.
- Gabe Vilardi (1). Assist: Robert Thomas.
- Denton Mateychuk (1). Assists: Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini.
- Ryan O’Reilly (3). Assists: Sidney Crosby, Porter Martone.
- Parker Wotherspoon (1). Assists: Sidney Crosby.
Denmark
- Nick Olesen (1). Assist: Mikkel Aagaard.
Germany (1) vs Switzerland (6) F
The 2026 IIHF World Championship has not been kind to Moritz Seider and the Germans as they come into Monday with an 0-0-0-2 record and just one goal in their first two games. On Monday night in Zurich, Germany had yet another tough test as they took on the hosts, Switzerland, who are player very well to start the tournament.
After a scoreless first period, it was Switzerland who took control in the middle frame, with former NHLer Denis Malgin picking up his first of the tournament to make it 1-0. The Swiss didn’t stop there as Sven Andrighetto, Christoph Bertschy, Nico Hischier and Roman Josi also scored, as they headed to the locker room with a 5-0 lead after 40 minutes.
A little over five minutes into the third period, Sven Andrighetto found the back of the net for the second time in the game and third in the tournament, giving Switzerland a 6-0 lead. Germany would finally get on the board with less than five minutes remaining in the game as Frederik Tiffels scored his nation’s second goal of the 2026 IIHF World Championship, but it came a bit too late as Switzerland won their third game of the tournament to move into a tie first place in Group A with Finland.
For Germany, it’s not looking good as they’re at the bottom of Group A with an 0-0-0-3 record and just two goals for in three games. Unless they’re able to run the table in their final four preliminary round games, they run the risk of missing out on the playoff round in back-to-back years for the first time since 2014 & 2015.
Scoring Summary:
Germany
- Frederik Tiffels (1). Assists: Lukas Reichel, Josh Samanski.
Switzerland
- Denis Malgin (1). Assists: Nico Hischier, Roman Josi.
- Sven Andrighetto (2). Assists: Denis Malgin, Timo Meier.
- Christoph Bertschy (1). Assists: Nino Niederreiter, Sven Jung.
- Nico Hischier (1). Assists: Timo Meier, Roman Josi.
- Roman Josi (1). Assists: Nino Niederreiter, Ken Jager.
- Sven Andrighetto (3). Assists: Denis Malgin, Pius Suter.
Sweden (3) vs Czechia (4) F
Monday’s clash between Sweden and Czechia had a bit of everything – a lengthy challenge, a disallowed goal, a game misconduct and seven combined goals for two nations that are looking to inch closer to Canada in the Group B standings.
A five goal first period began with Czechia opening the scoring a tad over three minutes into the contest thanks to Matej Blumel. Czechia would add a second less than ten minutes later Dominik Kubalik extended his nation’s lead to 2-0. The Czechs weren’t done as 36 seconds later, Jakub Flek made it 3-0. It looked like Czechia was in full control through the first 15 minutes of the opening frame before Sweden fought back.
With less than five minutes to play in the first, Joel Persson got Sweden on the board, cutting Czechia’s lead to 3-1. Simon Holmstrom found the back of the net for the Swedes with 2:15 remaining in the first period. Both Persson and Holmstrom’s goals came on the power play after Czech defenseman Jan Scotka was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for cross-checking Albert Johansson in the head.
In the third period, Czechia would regain their two-goal lead thanks to Jiri Cernoch, who is coming off his second consecutive 40-point campaign in the Czech Extraliga with Karlovy Vary HC. The Swedes would pull within one again six minutes into the final frame, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson scoring his second in as many days, making it 4-3 Czechia. Lucas Raymond appeared to tie the game later in the third period, but the officials waved it off due to a crease violation and unfortunately for the Swedes, they fell to Czechia on Monday and dropped to 1-0-0-2 in their first three games of the tournament.
Scoring Summary:
Sweden
- Joel Persson (1). Assists: Emil Heineman, Simon Holmstrom.
- Simon Holmstrom (1). Assists: Joel Persson, Emil Heineman.
- Oliver Ekman-Larsson (2). Assists: Lucas Raymond, Ivar Stenberg.
Czechia
- Matej Blumel (2). Assists: Filip Hronek, Tomas Galvas.
- Dominik Kubalik (2). Assists: Tomas Cibulka, Martin Kaut.
- Jakub Flek (1). Assists: Daniel Vozenilek, David Tomasek.
- Jiri Cernoch (1). Assists: Ondrej Beranek, Jaroslav Chmelar.
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 4
- Sidney Crosby (Canada) – 4 assists vs Denmark.
- Roman Josi (Switzerland) – 1 goal, 2 assists vs Germany.
- Lenni Hameenaho (Finland) – 2 goals, 1 assist vs United States.
Day 5 Schedule (Tuesday, May 19th)
- Latvia vs Austria (10:20 am ET)
- Italy vs Norway (10:20 am ET)
- Hungary vs Great Britain (2:20 pm ET)
- Slovenia vs Slovakia (2:20 pm ET)
(Image source: Pascal Muller/freshfocus)