World Championships Recap Day 1: Zach Whitecloud’s Team Canada opens tournament with 5-3 victory over Team Sweden

Friday marked the beginning of the 2026 IIHF World Championship, with several Calgary Flames players heading to Switzerland to represent their country.

Let’s take a look at what happened on Day 1 of the World Championship.

Team Canada vs Team Sweden

Team Canada got off to a good start, taking down Team Sweden by a score of 5-3. Just over two minutes in, John Tavares opened the scoring for Canada, with Whitecloud’s defence partner, Darnell Nurse, picking up an assist. With four to play in the first, Ryan O’Reilly made it 2-0 for Team Canada.

Their opposition came out to play in the second period, as Jacob Larsson cut Team Canada’s lead in half, then Lucas Raymond tied it. The teams exchanged goals just over a minute apart, entering the third period with the score deadlocked at three.

Team Canada won the third period. Connor Brown scored the game-winning goal just 3:21 into the third period, then Nurse picked up his second assist of the game on Dylan Cozens’ insurance goal with seven to play.

Although his partner picked up two assists, Whitecloud was held pointless over his 17 minutes of ice time. The pair was an even 0 in terms of plus minutes, while Whitecloud didn’t have a shot on goal. Whitecloud also took a tripping penalty.

Team Finland vs Team Germany

Team Finland defeated Team Germany 3-1. In the first, Anton Lundell opened the scoring just over eight and a half minutes into the game. It wasn’t until three minutes into the third that the game had its next goal, as Jesse Puljujärvi extended Team Finland’s lead.

Stefan Loibl cut that lead in half with 12 to play, but Aatu Räty picked up his first of the tournament to give Finland a 3-1 lead, holding on the rest of the way.

As for Määttä, he was on the ice for Team Germany’s lone goal, amassing a little under 19 minutes of ice time. Overall, it was a pretty quiet game from the Flames’ defenceman.

Team USA vs Team Switzerland

Team USA are the defending IIHF World Champions after a 90+ year drought. They defeated Team Switzerland in the gold medal game, but it was Team Switzerland that came away with a 3-1 victory on Friday.

Pius Suter opened the scoring two minutes into the game, then Sven Andrighetto scored what turned out to be the game-winner. Alex Steeves finally beat Swiss goaltender Leonardo Genoni, but Ken Jager restored the two-goal lead with just over three and a half left in the game. Team USA was unable to score again.

Devin Cooley served as Team USA’s backup. Joseph Woll started the game, stopping just 16 of the 19 shots he faced, which is good enough for an .842 save percentage. You have to wonder if Cooley gets the crease for their next game.

As for Coronato, he took 14 faceoffs, losing nine of them. The Flame registered just one shot over his 17 minutes of action and was a -1 for the game. Coronato was also involved in post-game festivities, taking a roughing call.

Other notes…

Surprisingly, Team Czechia cut Adam Klapka for the tournament. They were in action on Friday as well, defeating Team Denmark 4-1. Former Flame and Team Czechia captain, Roman Červenka, picked up his first goal of the tournament and added a helper. This was his 106th Worlds game, where he had 34 goals and 93 points.

There’s just one Flame player who hasn’t begun his tournament. Martin Pospíšil’s Team Slovakia wasn’t in action on Friday, instead they’ll kick off their tournament with a matchup against Team Norway on Saturday at 4:20 a.m. MT.

Team Canada is also back in action on Saturday, facing Team Italy at 8:20 a.m. MT. In Group A action, Team Finland takes on Team Hungary, who yes, has a hockey team. That game also starts at 8:20 a.m. MT.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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