The tenth day of the preliminary round at the 2025 IIHF World Championship has come to a close and there were plenty of exciting moments throughout each of the four games in Herning and Stockholm today.
Slovenia, who was in desperate need of a point, took on Austria in the first game of the day at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, while over in Herning, the United States was looking to make to punch their ticket to the Playoff Round with a win over Kazakhstan. The nightcap in Stockholm saw Latvia and Slovakia battled in a game with massive Playoff Round implications, while the second game of Day 10 in Herning saw Switzerland, who was without Sven Andrighetto, Denis Malgin and Jonas Siegenthaler, face a Hungarian squad that could avoid relegation with a win in any fashion.
Slovenia (2) vs Austria (3) F/SO
The Austrians have had a solid tournament up to this point and are coming off a 5-2 win over France. With a win today over Slovenia, they could get closer to their first appearance in the Playoff Round at the IIHF World Championship, which would also give them their best result at the tournament in over 30 years.
Slovenia got the scoring started in the first period on the power play as Blaz Gregorc picked up his second of the tournament to give his nation a 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, Austrian forward Dominic Zwerger brought the game level with his first of the 2025 IIHF World Championship. After a scoreless second period, the two teams headed to the final frame looking to break through and grab a much needed three points in the standings. Just over ten minutes into the third period, Brian Lebler gave Austria their first lead of the night, before Robert Sabolic tied the game a few minutes later.
With the two nations tied at 2-2, they headed to 3-on-3 overtime, which solved nothing and for the second time in the tournament, Austria went to a shootout, where they scored three goals thanks to Lukas Haudum, Dominic Zwerger and Benjamin Baumgartner, and picked up their third win of the tournament. Because the game went to a shootout, the Austrians only got two points, which put them into fourth in Group A, temporarily.
Scoring Summary:
Slovenia
- Blaz Gregorc (2). Assists: Marcel Mahkovec (2), Ken Ograjensek (1).
- Robert Sabolic (1). Assists: Jan Cosic (1), Matic Torok (1).
Austria
- Dominic Zwerger (1). Assist: Peter Schneider (3).
- Brian Lebler (1). Assists: Lukas Haudum (2), Dominic Zwerger (4).
Kazakhstan (1) vs United States (6) F
The United States are coming off a big win over the Germans on Saturday and with a win today, could officially book their place in the Quarterfinals. Standing in their way was an Kazakh squad who were motivated to be a lot better than they were yesterday against the Czechs and needed to pick up at least a point if they wanted to stay out of the relegation picture in Group B.
Through the first 20 minutes, the game remained scoreless, which was big for Kazakhstan’s chances in this game, however in the second period, the United States blew it wide open with five goals, including three points from Chicago Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar. 2025 Norris Trophy nominee Zach Werenski added a sixth for the United States early on in the third period, which was his first of the tournament.
Jeremey Swayman, who hasn’t had that great of a tournament prior to Sunday’s start, was less than a minute away from recording his second shutout of the 2025 IIHF World Championship, but Kazakhstan’s Vladimir Volkov had other plans, scoring his second of the tournament 50 seconds remaining in the final frame.
Scoring Summary:
Kazakhstan
- Vladimir Volkov (2).
United States
- Frank Nazar (4). Assists: Jackson Lacombe (2), Mikey Eyssimont (1).
- Jackson Lacombe (1). Assists: Frank Nazar (4), Michael McCarron (1).
- Tage Thompson (5). Assists: Zeev Buium (1), Shane Pinto (4).
- Matty Beniers (3). Assist: Drew O’Connor (2).
- Michael Kesselring (3). Assists: Frank Nazar (5), Mikey Eyssimont (2).
- Zach Werenski (1). Assists: Michael Kesselring (3), Clayton Keller (6).
Slovakia (1) vs Latvia (5) F
A couple hours after Austria moved into fourth in Group A, Slovakia and Latvia faced each other, with the winner being able to take over that spot, and get closer to clinching a berth in the Playoff Round, while the loser would see their Quarterfinal chances mathematically come to an end.
Latvia’s Haralds Egle opened the scoring less than three minutes into the first period, which brought the crowd to its feet at Avicii Arena, but just over six minutes later, Sebastian Cederle picked up his second of the tournament to tie the game at 1-1 and that’s where we stood after 20 minutes.
Just over a minute and thirty seconds into the middle frame, Boston Bruins prospect Dan Locmelis, who has been lights out this tournament for Latvia, gave his nation a 2-1 lead and they didn’t look back. The Latvians would go on to score three more, for four unanswered goals, including a late third period marker from Philadelphia Flyers forward Rodrigo Abols, who has two in two games thus far in the tournament. Latvia would go on to take this game by a score of 5-1 and with the loss, Slovakia was eliminated from reaching the Playoff Round for the second time in the last three years.
Scoring Summary:
Slovakia
- Sebastian Cederle (2). Assists: Samuel Takac (2), Samuel Knazko (2).
Latvia
- Haralds Egle (1). Assists: Toms Andersons (3), Janis Jaks (2).
- Dans Locmelis (4). Assist: Eduards Tralmaks (4).
- Rihards Bukarts (1).
- Toms Andersons (1). Assists: Martins Lavins (1), Haralds Egle (2).
- Rodrigo Abols (2). Assist: Kaspars Daugavins (1).
Hungary (0) vs Switzerland (10) F
The final game of Day 10 in Herning, Denmark saw Hungary facing Switzerland, who opted to rest a trio of key players including Sven Andrighetto, who leads the team in goals with six. Hungary is coming off an 8-2 loss to co-hosts Denmark on Friday and one area they needed a big game from was in between the pipes after allowing 28 goals through five games. However, the opposite happened on Sunday.
Andres Ambuhl, a Swiss hockey and IIHF World Championship legend, got the scoring started for his nation today with his first of the tournament and less than two minutes later, New Jersey Devils forward Timo Meier doubling Switzerland’s lead heading to the dressing room.
Switzerland blew the game wide open in the middle frame with three goals including a second from Timo Meier, while in the third period, Andres Ambuhl added two more for his first career hat trick at the IIHF World Championship. In doing so, Ambuhl, at the age of 41, became the oldest player to score a hat trick in IIHF World Championship history. Meanwhile, Ambuhl’s Switzerland would finish with a 10-0 win over Hungary and are, so far, the only nation to hit double digits at this year’s tournament.
Scoring Summary:
Switzerland
- Andres Ambuhl (1). Assists: Dominik Egli (1), Janis Moser (1).
- Timo Meier (1). Assist: Dean Kukan (5).
- Dominik Egli (1). Assists: Andrea Glauser (1), Kevin Fiala (3).
- Timo Meier (2). Assists: Tyler Moy (5), Kevin Fiala (4).
- Janis Moser (1). Assists: Nicolas Baechler (1), Timo Meier (4).
- Dominik Egli (2). Assists: Janis Moser (2), Timo Meier (5).
- Andres Ambuhl (2). Assists: Sandro Schmid (3), Christian Marti (4).
- Andrea Glauser (1). Assist: Ken Jager (2).
- Andres Ambuhl (3). Assists: Michael Fora (4), Janis Moser (3).
- Kevin Fiala (1). Assists: Tyler Moy (6), Christian Marti (5).
Standings After Day 10
Group A
- Sweden (6 GP, 6 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 25 GF, 3 GA, +22, 18 PTS) – Q
- Canada (5 GP, 5 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 28 GF, 2 GA, +26, 15 PTS) – Q
- Finland (5 GP, 3 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 1 L, 18 GF, 8 GA, +10, 11 PTS) – Q
- Latvia (6 GP, 3 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 3 L, 16 GF, 19 GA, -3, 9 PTS)
- Austria (6 GP, 1 W, 2 OTW, 0 OTL, 3 L, 15 GF, 16 GA, -1, 7 PTS)
- Slovakia (6 GP, 2 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 3 L, 8 GF, 22 GA, -14, 6 PTS) – E
- France (6 GP, 0 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 5 L, 7 GF, 24 GA, -17, 1 PTS) – E
- Slovenia (6 GP, 0 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 5 L, 6 GF, 28 GA, -22, 1 PTS) – E
Group B
- Switzerland (6 GP, 5 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 0 L, 30 GF, 8 GA, +22, 16 PTS) – Q
- Czechia (5 GP, 4 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 28 GF, 9 GA, +19, 14 PTS) – Q
- United States (6 GP, 4 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 1 L, 29 GF, 12 GA, +17, 14 PTS) – Q
- Germany (5 GP, 3 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 2 L, 19 GF, 15 GA, +4, 9 PTS)
- Denmark (6 GP, 3 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 3 L, 23 GF, 23 GA, +/-0, 9 PTS)
- Hungary (6 GP, 1 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 5 L, 8 GF, 38 GA, -30, 3 PTS) – E
- Kazakhstan (6 GP, 1 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 5 L, 8 GF, 28 GA, -20, 3 PTS) – E
- Norway (6 GP, 0 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 5 L, 12 GF, 24 GA, -12, 1 PTS) – E
- Q – Qualified for Playoff Round.
- E – Elimination from Playoff Round contention.
- R – Relegated to Division 1A for 2026.
My Three Stars of Day 10
- Frank Nazar (United States) – 1 goal, 2 assists in win vs Kazakhstan.
- Andres Ambuhl (Switzerland) – 3 goals in win vs Hungary.
- Timo Meier (Switzerland) – 2 goals, 2 assists in win vs Hungary.
Day 11 Schedule (Monday, May 19th)
- France vs Slovenia (10:20 am ET)
- Germany vs Czechia (10:20 am ET)
- Canada vs Finland (2:20 pm ET)
- Hungary vs Norway (2:20 pm ET)
Photo Credit: Le Matin/IIHF.