The 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship continued on Wednesday with the preliminary round.
Team Austria and Team Switzerland started things off in Group A with Switzerland shutting out Austria 9-0. The contest did not feature a Bruins player.
In the first game of the day for Group B, Team Czechia defeated Team Italy 3-1. Bruins forward Matěj Blümel, who plays on Team Czechia, recorded an assist in the victory.
Blümel’s assist came in the third period at 5:14 on a goal from defenseman Marek Alscher who is a part of the Florida Panthers organization and plays for the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers.
During the afternoon slate, Team USA played Team Germany which the USA won 4-3 in a shootout.
The contest featured three Bruins, defenseman Mason Lohrei and forward Alex Steeves for Team USA and forward Lukas Reichel for Team Germany. Bruins forward James Hagens, who is on Team USA’s roster, did not play in the game.
Steeves tallied an assist in the first period on a goal from forward Isaac Howard (AHL’s Bakersfield Condors) at 14:33 to put the USA up 1-0. Reichel also had an assist in the game in the second period on a goal from Frederik Tiffels (DEC’s Eisbären Berlin) at 9:53 to knot things at 2.
Washington Capitals and former Boston College forward Ryan Leonard scored the game-winning goal in the shootout.
Group B’s final game of the day saw Team Sweden beat Team Slovenia 6-0. This game also did not feature a Bruin.
With Wednesday’s slate of games, Switzerland sits at the top of the Group A standings with 12 points, followed by Finland and Austria with nine, USA with five, Hungary and Latvia with three, Germany with one, and Great Britain with none.
Group B’s standings have Czechia at the top with ten points, followed by Canada with nine, Slovakia with eight, Norway and Sweden with six, Slovenia with three, and Denmark and Italy with none.
Play resumes on Thursday with four games. Team Latvia and Team Finland square off at 10:20 a.m. Team Canada and Team Norway play at the same time.
In the afternoon slate, Team Switzerland faces off against Team Great Britain and Team Denmark plays Team Slovakia, both at 2:20 p.m.
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