2024 IIHF World Championship Roundup: Standouts from Day 4

May 13, 2024

Another day, more drama.

A pair of overtime games helped highlight Monday’s play, starting with Slovakia’s 5-4 win over the United States. After trailing 4-1 at one point, USA managed to take Slovakia to overtime. The Slovaks held on for the 5-4 win, handing USA their second loss of the tournament after some high hopes early on.

Later in the afternoon, in a packed arena in Prague, Czechia and Switzerland needed extra time to determine a victor. Kein Fiala and Philipp Kurashev scored one goal each in the shootout to secure the victory.

The other two games were quite one-sided, with Sweden taking a big 6-1 win over Sweden. Finland also beat Norway 4-1 in a game that never really seemed close at any point.

Here’s a look at the top performers today, with Switzerland holding a one-point advantage over Finland for first in Group A, while Sweden remains perfect with a 3-0-0 record in Group B:

USA

#12 Matt Boldy, RW (Minnesota Wild): Boldy scored USA’s first goal to give them some life in a game where Slovakia just outplayed them early. Boldy has been USA’s best player in the tournament, scoring goals, setting up plays and winning battles on the power play. It’s USA’s lack of scoring depth that’s trailing behind right now, though.

#1 Trey Augustine, G (Detroit Red Wings): Augustine joined after the 4-1 goal and shut the door on the Slovaks, just like he did for most of the game against Germany. The Michigan State University goaltender has had two relief efforts so far and was great in both of them, and there wasn’t much he could have done on that tip in overtime.

#7 Brady Tkachuk, LW (Ottawa Senators): Tkachuk scored a beautiful goal, making a nice deke on Patrik Koch for the 4-3 goal. He also antagonized the Slovak attackers, landed some big hits and just did Brady Tkachuk things out there. Clearly, the bigger ice hasn’t stopped him from being a pain in the butt.

#43 Luke Hughes, D (New Jersey Devils): After a solid first half of the game, Hughes managed to tie it up with under five minutes to go when he went coast-to-coast for the 4-4 goal. He’s so skilled, using his speed, puck-handling and great release to put Slovakia on their heels. Hughes has looked excellent throughout this tournament as coach John Hynes continues to show faith in him.

Slovakia

#17 Simon Nemec, D (New Jersey Devils): Nemec played a great first half, which included a goal to make it 3-1. You can tell how much he grew as a player in the NHL this year, making higher-skilled passes and smarter defensive reads. His shot was then tipped in to win Slovakia the game in overtime, capping off a huge night for the young blueliner. I thought he was a better all-around player than Hughes today, for what it’s worth.

#76 Martin Pospisil, C (Calgary Flames): Between his no-nonsense approach to physical play and his two assists, it was another excellent game from the Calgary Flames forward. Pospisil played all situations for Slovakia and has been just so consistently effective for a team that doesn’t have a ton of pure firepower out there. He’s not making any friends, though.

#64 Patrik Koch, D (Utah): Koch = violence. And I love it. He makes himself so difficult to play against, as seen with the big hit on Johnny Gaudreau in the third period. Koch also scored to make it 4-1, a goal that helped suck all the energy out of the American bench. I’ve loved Koch at this tournament in the past and still do.

#31 Samuel Hlavaj, G (Minnesota Wild): Without the incredible goaltending by Hlavaj – who had to make 20 saves in the second period alone – Slovakia wasn’t going to win this game. The Americans started to get desperate and try a bit of everything, but Hlavaj was rock solid in the crease when they needed him to be. That could cement himself as Slovakia’s No. 1.

Finland

#7 Oliwer Kaski, D: Kaski had two shots tipped in from the point in the first period, which is starting to become a normal occurrence at this period. It doesn’t seem to matter who’s in front of the net – he’s always looking to get the puck in a spot where someone can tip it in. Part of that is luck, obviously, but the fact he’s had it happen about four times already in three games should tell you he knows what he’s doing.

#27 Oliver Kapanen, C (Montreal Canadiens): After a hat-trick yesterday, Kapanen kept the hot play alive with the 1-0 icebreaker. It was another tip, showing Norway’s defensemen that he was going to give them a difficult time in front of the net. Montreal Canadiens fans have to love what they’re seeing from someone who might factor into the team’s bottom six at some point in the not-so-distant future, given how good his front presence has been.

#29 Harri Sateri, G: He couldn’t do much on that goal against – a breakaway goal after a jailbreak – but Sateri was sharp once again. He’s been excellent dating back to the Euro Hockey Tour earlier this month, making numerous athletic stops in close. He’s great on one-timers, and he did an excellent job of shutting Norway down after they scored their goal.

Norway

#72 Stian Solberg, D (2024 NHL Draft): I can’t remember watching a draft-eligible defenseman on a non-contending team being as dominant as Solberg. He just makes himself so difficult to beat in 1-on-1 situations, winning battles along the boards more often than not. As the lone first-year NHL Draft defenseman in this tournament, he’s showing good poise, maturity, and two-way value on a team that is relying heavily on him.

Sweden

#26 Rasmus Dahlin, D (Buffalo Sabres): I thought Dahlin was the best Swedish defenseman of the bunch, and he was rewarded with two assists. One of them was on a goal from his Sabres teammate, Victor Olofsson, and then he had a shot tipped in by Carl Grundstrom in the second. I feel Dahlin is almost underrated behind Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman here.

#71 Victor Olofsson, LW (Buffalo Sabres): Olofsson came out wanting blood today, and he was rewarded with a goal in the dying seconds of the first period. He had a few good looks in the second as the Swedes looked to open things up further. I thought this was by far his best game after a couple of quiet games early on.

#65 Erik Karlsson, D (Pittsburgh Penguins): Karlsson’s blast was perfectly placed to make it 1-0 and then he just did what he does best – beating guys with speed and skill. They didn’t need Karlsson to up the pace in the second half but he kept the guys focused on the task at hand while doing a great job of shutting down the Germans.

#29 Pontus Holmberg, C (Toronto Maple Leafs): I’ve seen Holmberg play quite a bit the past few years but this has legitimately felt like his best game action. He’s constantly making smart plays, handling passes with ease, and winning a ton of battles along the boards. Holmberg had an assist on the 5-0 goal after chasing down the puck behind the net and setting up Andre Burakovsky in front.

Germany

#33 JJ Peterka, LW (Buffalo Sabres): Peterka hasn’t been as effective as we was last year, but he has been one of Germany’s best players throughout. Even when the game was so lopsided, the effort never seemed to lack, with Peterka giving Sweden’s stout blueline some fits all game long. That’s all you can ask for in a blowout like this.

Czechia

#93 Matej Stransky, RW: Stransky’s goal helped spark the Czech offense and nearly had another one in the second period. Stransky then scored in the shootout, but wasn’t able to get the win in the end. The former Dallas Stars prospect used his big 6-foot-4 frame to win some battles and was easily Czechia’s best forward today.

#6 Michal Kempny, D: It was a solid defensive effort from the former NHL defenseman, who mostly focused on his own-zone play. He cleared space in front of the net, allowed his goaltender to see freely and pushed guys around when needed. Kempny is lucky his penalty in the final minute of overtime didn’t come back to bite him, though.

#1 Lukas Dostal, G (Anaheim Ducks): After getting beat on an excellent shot in the first period, Dostal was perfect the rest of the way. He has assumed the No. 1 duties this year after some solid work in Anaheim, and some key saves in the first half gave the Czechs some much-needed momentum heading into the second half. Good goaltending like today will be crucial come playoff time next week.

Switzerland

#21 Kevin Fiala, LW (Los Angeles Kings): No matter how good you are, it’s not easy to just jump into a lineup of an already established group and make an impact right off the bat. But on the same day he arrived in Prague, Fiala scored a power-play goal at 13:36 to make it a 1-0 game, showing he didn’t miss a beat. His shot is tough to beat, and he picked a tight angle on Lukas Dostal to make it happen. Fiala capped the night off with the first shootout goal, too. His legs weren’t at full speed, but he gave the team another legitimate scoring threat every time he hit the ice.

#90 Roman Josi, D (Nashville Predators): It’s proving difficult to keep Josi’s name off this each day. He just keeps moving the puck like it’s nobody’s business, especially on the power play. He helped activate the 1-0 goal and had a few other good looks in the second, but it was just another solid game overall from the star defenseman.

#13 Nico Hischier, C (New Jersey Devils): I thought Hischier moved exceptionally well today, keeping the pace of play high as the Czechs tried to build off the incredible atmosphere inside the rink. He also provided a nice pick in front of the Czech net on the icebreaker goal, taking away Dostal’s sight after originally getting the puck to Fiala himself.

#63 Leonardo Genoni, G: The Swiss needed stable goaltending after the nearly disastrous result against Austria yesterday. Genoni lived up to expectations, keeping the Swiss in it even when the Czechs were starting to put the pressure on in the second half. He should be their No. 1 the rest of the way, as he’s been multiple times.

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