Switzerland 3, Slovakia 2: Elijah Neuenschwander (Anaheim Ducks) made 20 saves to help Switzerland finish third in the Group A bracket at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
Switzerland (2-0-0-2), which finished eighth at the 2025 WJC, has reached the quarterfinal round for the 10th straight year. The country has medaled once, winning bronze in 1998.
“We’re proud of the effort,” Switzerland captain Leon Muggli (Washington Capitals) said. “The whole group stage was pretty good. We have an unbelievable group here and we showed that on the ice and really battled it out.
“We’ve got a tight group here. The core is the same since we’re young; we know each other, also from different leagues. Off the ice we have a good spirit, and the coaching staff brings a good mentality in practices and you can see that on the ice in the games.”
Luca Radivojevic (2026 NHL Draft eligible) and Adam Nemec (2026 draft eligible) each had a goal and an assist, and Michal Pradel (Detroit Red Wings) made 15 saves for Slovakia (1-0-0-3).
“It was a hard game,” Nemec said. “We know Switzerland is a very good defensive team, but we can’t start at the [beginning of the] third period. We have to start in the first minute when the puck drops, so this can’t happen to us in the quarterfinals.”
Switzerland took advantage of a double-minor penalty against Tobias Tomik for high-sticking at 16:53 of the first period with two power-play goals in a span of 26 seconds.
Loris Wey (2026 draft eligible) gave Switzerland a 1-0 lead at 18:05 on a redirection from the slot, and Mike Aeschlimann (2026 draft eligible) pushed it to 2-0 on a snap shot at the left post at 18:27.
Kevin Haas (2026 eligible) extended the lead to 3-0 at 16:43 of the second period on a rebound from the slot.
Nemec cut it to 3-1 on a shot from the slot that hit the crossbar, rolled off the back of Neuenschwander and over the line at 7:41 of the third period.
Radivojevic scored at 19:50 with Pradel pulled for an extra attacker for the 3-2 final.
Each country has advanced to the quarterfinal round scheduled on Friday.