Day 6 of the 2025 IIHF World Championship has concluded and fans were treated to four great games, with Denmark, France, Kazakhstan, Norway and Slovakia all needing to pick up as many points as possibly if they want to have a shot at making it to the playoff round, which begins next Thursday.
In the morning game in Group A in Stockholm, France and Slovakia battled to a tight finish, while over in Group B in Herning, the United States blew a 5-1 lead and came close to their second-ever loss to Norway. Meanwhile in the afternoon games,
United States (6) vs Norway (5) F/OT
The United States was looking to bounce back after a tough 3-0 loss to Switzerland on Monday as they took on a Norwegian squad today that had lost their first three games of the tournament. Team USA got off to a great start and a little less than three minutes into the second period, had a 5-1 lead over Norway. While many believed this game was headed for a blowout, the Norwegians had other plans, scoring four unanswered goals to tie the game at 5-5 to force overtime. Enroute to tying the game, Anaheim Ducks prospect Stian Solberg registered a hat trick to give his nation their first point in the standings at this year’s World Championship. Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson, who was sitting on two goals entering overtime, scored the winner to pick up the hat trick and the United States’ third victory of the tournament.
Scoring Summary:
United States
- Cutter Gauthier (4). Assists: Shane Pinto (3), Will Smith (4).
- Clayton Keller (1). Assists: Jackson Lacombe (1), Logan Cooley (2).
- Tage Thompson (1).
- Michael McCarron (1). Assists: Drew O’Connor (1), Isaac Howard (1).
- Tage Thompson (2). Assists: Clayton Keller (2), Zach Werenski (1).
- Tage Thompson (3). Assists: Logan Cooley (3), Clayton Keller (3).
Norway
- Stian Solberg (2). Assists: Jacob Berglund (2), Michael Brandsegg-Nygard (2).
- Stian Solberg (3). Assist: Andreas Martinsen (1).
- Martin Ronnild (1).
- Noah Steen (1).
- Stian Solberg (3). Assists: Michael Brandegg-Nygard (3), Martin Ronnild (1).
Slovakia (2) vs France (1) F
Slovakia and France got the day underway in Stockholm and it was a low-scoring affair. The Slovaks haven’t had the greatest tournament up to this point, losing their opener to Sweden before defeating Slovenia and losing in a shootout against Austria on Monday. Going into the World Championship, the Slovaks and their fans knew it was going to be tough given they were without Juraj Slafkovsky, Tomas Tatar and Simon Nemec and if they were going to have any chance of making it to the playoff round, they needed to beat the teams that on paper, they should be beating, such as France. As was the case against Finland on the weekend, Washington Capitals prospect Antoine Keller was fantastic between the pipes today for France, making 33 saves on 35 shots. Los Angeles Kings prospect Martin Chromiak picking up his first of the tournament in the second period and a little over five minutes later, Louis Boudon tied the game at 1-1. The game remained knotted up at one goal a piece until a point shot from Mislav Rosandic found its way to the back of the net, giving Slovakia a 2-1 lead with ten minutes remaining in the final frame. Slovakia would hold onto that lead for their second win of the tournament.
Scoring Summary:
Slovakia
- Martin Chromiak (1). Assists: Samuel Honzek (1), Dalibor Dvorsky (1).
- Mislav Rosandic (1). Assists: Maxim Cajkovic (2), Michal Kristof (1).
France
- Louis Boudon (1). Assists: Aurelien Dair (1), Sacha Treille (1).
Latvia (0) vs Sweden (6) F
Sweden have been great since the moment the puck dropped on their schedule last Friday, winning their first three games of the tournament against Slovakia, Austria and their Nordic rivals, Finland. Today, the Swedes were facing a Latvian team that’s had a so-so World Championship, but remain in the mix for a quarterfinal berth in Group A. However on Wednesday, a little over 24 hours after defeating Slovenia, the Latvians were tired, there was no question about that and they ran into a well-rested Swedish squad. The opening frame remained scoreless, which gave Latvians fans some hope, but then Sweden began to pour it on with two goals in the second period and four in the third to win their fourth game of the tournament by a score of 6 to 0.
Scoring Summary:
Sweden
- Rasmus Andersson (1). Assist: Elias Lindholm (4).
- Anton Bengtsson (1). Assists: Alexander Wennberg (1), Jonas Brodin (1).
- Lucas Raymond (1). Assists: Leo Carlsson (1), Isac Lundestrom (2).
- Adam Larsson (1). Assists: Jesper Froden (1), Leo Carlsson (2).
- Mika Zibanejad (4). Assists: Alexander Wennberg (2), Jonas Brodin (2).
- Elias Lindholm (2). Assists: Jesper Froden (2), Lucas Raymond (4).
Kazakhstan (1) vs Denmark (5) F
The Kazakhs had a strong start to the 2025 IIHF World Championship, defeating Norway in their opening game, but in their following two contests against Germany and Hungary, they picked up a pair of regulation losses. Today’s game against an 0-0-0-3 Denmark provided them an opportunity to get back into the win column, or so they thought. Co-hosts Denmark were desperate for a win today, with one in regulation boosting their chances of getting back in the hunt for a spot in the playoff round. Thanks to a two-goal effort from former NHLer Alexander True, along with a solid start from former Montreal Canadiens goaltending prospect Frederik Dichow, the Danes rolled to a 5-1 victory over Kazakhstan.
Scoring Summary:
Kazakhstan
- Nikita Mikhailis (3). Assists: Roman Starchenko (2), Leonid Metalnikov (1).
Denmark
- Mikkel Aagaard (1). Assists: Joachim Blichfeld (1), Anders Koch (1).
- Alexander True (1). Assists: Patrick Russell (2), Nicklas Jensen (3).
- Christian Wejse (2). Assists: Nick Olesen (3), Joachim Blichfeld (2).
- Alexander True (2). Assist: Markus Lauridsen (1).
- Nick Olesen (2).
Standings After Day 6
Group A
- Sweden (4 GP, 4 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 17 GF, 3 GA, +14, 12 PTS)
- Canada (3 GP, 3 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 16 GF, 1 GA, +15, 9 PTS)
- Slovakia (4 GP, 2 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 0 L, 7 GF, 10 GA, -3, 6 PTS)
- Latvia (4 GP, 2 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 2 L, 10 GF, 16 GA, -6, 6 PTS)
- Finland (3 GP, 1 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 1 L, 7 GF, 6 GA, +1, 5 PTS)
- Austria (3 GP, 0 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 2 L, 6 GF, 8 GA, -2, 2 PTS)
- France (4 GP, 0 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 3 L, 5 GF, 15 GA, -10, 1 PTS)
- Slovenia (3 GP, 0 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 3 L, 3 GF, 12 GA, -9, 0 PTS)
Group B
- Germany (3 GP, 3 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 15 GF, 4 GA, +11, 9 PTS)
- Czechia (3 GP, 2 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 0 L, 14 GF, 7 GA, +7, 8 PTS)
- United States (4 GP, 2 W, 1 OTW, 0 OTL, 1 L, 17 GF, 8 GA, +9, 8 PTS)
- Switzerland (3 GP, 2 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 0 L, 12 GF, 7 GA, +5, 7 PTS)
- Hungary (3 GP, 1 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 2 L, 5 GF, 14 GA, -9, 3 PTS)
- Denmark (4 GP, 1 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 3 L, 9 GF, 18 GA, -9, 3 PTS)
- Kazakhstan (4 GP, 1 W, 0 OTW, 0 OTL, 3 L, 6 GF, 14 GA, -8, 3 PTS)
- Norway (4 GP, 0 W, 0 OTW, 1 OTL, 3 L, 9 GF, 15 GA, -6, 1 PTS)
My Three Stars of Day 6
- Stian Solberg (Norway) – 3 goals in overtime loss vs United States.
- Tage Thompson (United States) – 3 goals in overtime win vs Norway.
- Alexander True (Denmark) – 2 goals in win vs Kazakhstan.
Day 7 Schedule (Thursday, May 15th)
- Finland vs Slovenia (10:20 am ET)
- Switzerland vs Germany (10:20 am ET)
- Canada vs Austria (2:20 pm ET)
- Czechia vs Hungary (2:20 pm ET)
Photo Credit: IIHF.