As we inch closer to the end of the preliminary round at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, nations are continuing to jockey for position in the standings ahead of the quarterfinals. It’s fair tight in both groups entering action in both groups, as the hosts Switzerland are the only nation entering Day 8 to have clinched a spot in the playoff round.
The early games on Day 8 saw Germany, who are still searching for their first win of the tournament, take on Hungary, while over in Group B, Canada was looking to remain undefeated as they faced off against Slovenia. In the second games of the day, Finland battled a Great Britain group that was trying to avoid their fifth loss in as many games & Sweden, who came into Friday seeking their third win of the 2026 IIHF World Championship, took on Italy.
Germany (6) vs Hungary (2) F
The Germans came into Day 8 looking for their first win of the tournament and despite their winless record, they have gotten better as the World Championship has rolled along. Standing in their way of win number one at the tournament was a Hungarian side that’s coming off a 5-0 over Great Britain on Wednesday.
Germany was in full control of this game through the first 40 minutes. Less than ten minutes into the opening frame, Eric Mik scored his first of the tournament to give Germany a 1-0 lead. Late in the period, former Winnipeg Jets prospect Leon Gawanke doubled Germany’s lead as they went up 2-0 after 20 minutes.
In the middle frame, Germany added to their lead. Former first round pick Lukas Reichel finding the back of the net for the first time in the World Championship, putting his nation ahead 3-0 with less than a minute left in the period. 39 seconds later, Montreal native Samuel Dove-McFalls, who is playing in his first tournament for Germany, scored the first international goal of his career, making 4-0 after two.
Germany wasn’t done there as Leon Gawanke doubled down early in the first period, extending his nation’s lead to 5-0. The Hungarians fought back in the final frame after being outshot 28-4 through 40 minutes. Tamas Sarpatki got Hungary on the board less than five minutes into the third period. The Germans would get one back a little later on as Leon Gawanke completed the hat trick 9:40 into the final frame.
As the minutes wound down, Hungary continued to press for a second and finally broke through with 2:38 left in the period thanks to Janos Hari’s first of the tournament, but that’s as far as they’d get, as Germany picked up their first win of the tournament by a score of 6 to 2.
Scoring Summary:
Germany
- Eric Mik (1). Assists: Maximilian Kastner, Manuel Wiederer.
- Leon Gawanke (1). Assists: Stefan Loibl, Marc Michaelis.
- Lukas Reichel (1). Assists: Frederik Tiffels, Josh Samanski.
- Samuel Dove-McFalls (1). Assists: Marc Michaelis, Alexander Ehl.
- Leon Gawanke (2). Assists: Maximilian Kastner, Stefan Loibl.
- Leon Gawanke (3). Assists: Kai Wissmann, Marc Michaelis.
Hungary
- Tamas Sarpatki (1). Assists: Krisztian Nagy, Zsombor Garat.
- Janos Hari (1). Assists: Marton Nemes, Roland Kiss.
Canada (3) vs Slovenia (1) F
Over in Zurich, Canada had a date with Slovenia, who has shocked many in this tournament so far. Slovenia picked up an overtime win over Czechia last Saturday, as well as a shootout loss to Slovakia on Tuesday. Friday however was their toughest test yet – Canada, but they didn’t show any nerves whatsoever.
Canada opened the scoring a little over halfway through the first period as Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Denton Mateychuk scored his second of the tournament to make it 1-0. The Canadians would hold onto that 1-0 lead through 20 minutes and for the first half of the second period before Dylan Cozens scored his 19th career IIHF World Championship goal to put his team up 2-0.
Less than seven minutes into the third, Canada would add to their lead as 20-year-old Emmitt Finnie, who picked up his first career IIHF World Championship point on Denton Mateychuk’s first period marker, scored to make it 3-0. Just as it looked like Jet Greaves was going to register his first shutout in a Canadian uniform, Slovenia broke the deadlock as Rozle Bohnic put his nation on the board with 1:05 left in the game.
Canada would hold on to record a 3-1 win over Slovenia to remain undefeated at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, moving into sole possession of first place in Group B and officially clinching their spot in the playoff round, which begins next Thursday – May 28th.
Scoring Summary:
Canada
- Denton Mateychuk (2). Assists: Fraser Minten, Emmitt Finnie.
- Dylan Cozens (3). Assists: Darnell Nurse, Sidney Crosby.
- Emmitt Finnie (1). Assists: Morgan Rielly, Connor Brown.
Slovenia
- Rozle Bohnic (1). Assist: Jan Golicic.
Finland (4) vs Great Britain (0) F
After starting the tournament with four straight regulation wins, Finland was looking to pull into a tie with the hosts, Switzerland, atop Group A, with the two nations set to meet on the final day of the preliminary round on Tuesday. On Friday, Finland took on Great Britain, who have had a tough go at this year’s IIHF World Championship after being promoted from Division 1A.
The Finns didn’t waste any time in getting the scoring underway as defenseman Ville Heinola found the back of the net for the second time in the tournament, making it 1-0 58 seconds into this one. Great Britain netminder Mat Robson stood on his head in today’s game as he didn’t let in another Finnish goal until nearly halfway through the second period when Ville Heinola doubled down to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Three minutes after Heinola extended Finland’s lead, Mikko Lehtonen scored his first goal of the 2026 IIHF World Championship, making it 3-0 for the Finns through 40 minutes. While Robson did all he could in that middle frame to keep his nation in the game, Great Britain couldn’t generate anything offensively as they were outshot 17-0 in the second.
Late in the third period, another Finnish defenseman made his way onto the score sheet as Henri Jokiharju of the Boston Bruins tallied his second of the tournament, making it 4-0 with a little over a minute left in the game and that’s where things would finish. Finland improved to 5-0-0-0 with the win, while Great Britain falls to 0-0-0-5 and is inching closer to being relegated.
Scoring Summary:
Finland
- Ville Heinola (2). Assists: Konsta Helenius, Aleksander Barkov.
- Ville Heinola (3). Assists: Henri Jokiharju, Lenni Hameenaho.
- Mikko Lehtonen (1). Assists: Aatu Raty, Mikael Granlund.
- Henri Jokiharju (2). Assists: Vili Saarijarvi, Jesse Puljujarvi.
Sweden (3) vs Italy (0) F
The addition of Damian Clara has provided the Italians with some much needed confidence as they themselves look to avoid being the team from Group B that’s relegated back to Division 1A next year. In Clara’s tournament debut on Wednesday against Czechia, he stopped 55 of 57 shots he faced as Italy fell 3-1 and on Friday, he was back at it trying to save the day for his country.
A little over nine minutes into the first period, Sweden got on the board as Carl Grundstrom of the Philadelphia Flyers put home his first of the tournament to make it 1-0. Later in the first period, it was 2026 projected top-three pick Ivar Stenberg who finally broke through, picking up his first of the 2026 IIHF World Championship to give the Swedes a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Sweden peppered Clara with shots in the opening frame as he turned aside 13 of 15 to keep Italy in this contest.
Eight minutes into the second period, Ivar Stenberg doubled down, scoring his second of the night to extend Sweden’s lead to 3-0. On both of Stenberg’s goals tonight, fellow 2026 draft prospect Viggo Bjorck, who many are expecting to go in the top-ten, picked up a pair of assists, as did Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond.
Clara stood tall in the second half of the game and finished the night with 31 saves on 34 shots, but Italy was unable to breakthrough and the Swedes would pick up another regulation win, this time by a final score of 3 to 0.
Scoring Summary:
Sweden
- Carl Grundstrom (1). Assists: Erik Brannstrom, Jack Berglund.
- Ivar Stenberg (1). Assists: Viggo Bjorck, Lucas Raymond.
- Ivar Stenberg (2). Assists: Viggo Bjorck, Lucas Raymond.
Standings
Group A
| Nation | GP | W | OT/SOW | OT/SOL | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switzerland - X | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 7 | +32 | 21 |
| Finland - X | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 11 | +20 | 18 |
| Latvia - X | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 17 | +7 | 12 |
| United States - X | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 21 | +4 | 11 |
| Germany - E | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 22 | +1 | 10 |
| Austria - E | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 29 | -12 | 9 |
| Hungary - E | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 38 | -24 | 3 |
| Great Britain - R | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 35 | -28 | 0 |
Group B
| Nation | GP | W | OT/SOW | OT/SOL | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada - X | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 13 | +20 | 20 |
| Norway - X | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 15 |
| Czechia - X | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 13 |
| Sweden - X | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 27 | 16 | +11 | 12 |
| Slovakia - E | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 11 |
| Denmark - E | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 26 | -11 | 6 |
| Slovenia - E | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 25 | -12 | 6 |
| Italy - R | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 28 | -23 | 1 |
My 3 Stars of Day 8
- Leon Gawanke (Germany) – 3 goals vs Hungary.
- Ivar Stenberg (Sweden) – 2 goals vs Italy.
- Ville Heinola (Finland) – 2 goals vs Great Britain.
Day 9 Schedule (Saturday, May 23rd)
- Latvia vs United States (6:20 am ET)
- Denmark vs Slovenia (6:20 am ET)
- Switzerland vs Hungary (10:20 am ET)
- Slovakia vs Czechia (10:20 am ET)
- Austria vs Germany (2:20 pm ET)
- Norway vs Sweden (2:20 pm ET)
(Image Source: Andre Ringuette/IIHF)