2024 IIHF World Championship Roundup: Standouts from Day 7

We’ve got our first major upset, folks.

It’s going to be hard to top Austria’s 3-2 win over Finland, with Benjamin Baumgartner scoring a goal with 0.2 seconds left in the game to win. Finland controlled the first half of the game, but just like they did against Canada, Austria chipped away until the final buzzer.

It was the first time that Finland had lost to Austria in IIHF competition, with Austria registering four points over two games against Canada and Finland to keep their quarterfinal hopes alive. At the very least, it’ll help keep their heads above water in the fight to avoid relegation.

That game happened in Prague, while Sweden managed to beat Kazakhstan in a close 3-1 game to stay perfect in Group B. Canada played a close game against Norway, with it sitting at 2-1 early in the third. But two late goals, including an empty netter allowed Canada to win 4-1.

The most lopsided game of the day came in the final outing with USA beating France 5-0. USA’s top line combined for four of the goals, all coming in the first period before Shane Pinto finished the game off with a late goal.

Through seven days of play, Canada and Switzerland are atop of Group A with 11 points each, two ahead of Czechia and four ahead of Finland in the final playoff spot. In Group B, Sweden is the lone team with a perfect regulation effort with four straight wins, while Slovakia, USA and Latvia hold the three other playoff spots. Germany is just one point out of fourth with six points.

Here’s a look at the top players from Thursday’s action:

Canada

#21 Kaiden Guhle, D (Montreal Canadiens): Guhle has looked excellent for Canada, having a run as one of the team’s top defensemen. His great passing play between himself and Brandon Tanev led to the 1-0 goal, with Guhle’s patience with the puck paying off.

#4 Bowen Byram, D (Buffalo Sabres): Canada did an excellent job of shutting down Norway around the net, blocking many shots with his body and his stick. Byram also used his patience to set up Canada’s 2-0 goal, waiting long enough to get the puck to Andrew Mangiapane in front. From a two-way perspective, Byram was Canada’s best player today.

#22 Dylan Cozens, C (Buffalo Sabres): Cozens’ play on the PK led to the 3-1 goal, helping to secure the win. He also played one heck of a defensive game, playing a nice physical style in front of the net as he kept Norway from generating anything notable around the net.

Norway

#33 Henrik Haukeland, G: Given his team needed 42 minutes to register their first shot on net, Haukeland kept it close. And it mattered, especially when Norway cut the lead in half early in the third. There wasn’t much he could have done on a few goals, but it wasn’t Haukeland’s fault they lost.

#72 Stian Solberg, D (2024 NHL Draft): Solberg scored the lone goal for Norway on just their second shot of the game, coming in the third period. It came after he dominated the game physically and jumped in on a few rushes that were ultimately unsuccessful. He’s been Norway’s best player from the get-go.

USA

#12 Matt Boldy, RW (Minnesota Wild): It didn’t take long for the MVP contender to get on the board. Boldy made a great pass to find Brock Nelson just outside of the slot for the 1-0 goal just 45 seconds in. At 3:24, he blasted his own shot in after taking Jake Sanderson’s pass from far out, making it 2-0. Boldy is just having the time of his life in Czechia right now.

#29 Brock Nelson, C (New York Islanders): Nelson opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the game and then had secondary assists on the third and fourth goals. Nelson has been the glue that has kept this first line roaring, often being the one to bring the puck over the blueline in an effort to start a scoring play.

#13 Johnny Gaudreau, LW (Columbus Blue Jackets): Gaudreau doesn’t miss many chances in close, and he scored the 4-0 goal off a feed from his good buddy, Zach Werenski. Gaudreau also assisted on the 3-0 goal, finding Boldy in front for his second of the game. Hopefully this helps spark a big return to Columbus this fall.

#4 Seth Jones, D (Chicago Blackhawks): I thought this was Jones’ best game of the tournament, and he helped set up the first goal of the game. He’s so good with his stick work, moves the puck well and gave France very little room to move around near the net. This felt like a vintage Seth Jones effort, which is fitting given he’s back with Werenski at this tournament.

France

#32 Quentin Papillon, G: Papillon came into the net for the second period and was peppered for 23 shots against. He turned them all away, but it didn’t do much to change France’s chances, given Julian Junca allowed four goals in the first period. This game could have easily been 10-0 if it wasn’t for Papillon pulling some magic in the final 40 minutes. Papillon made 37 of the 38 shots sent his way to keep France afloat.

Sweden

#90 Marcus Johansson, LW (Minnesota Wild): Johansson got the scoring started as Sweden’s second line had another good game. He’s been great through the middle of the ice and it’s been nice seeing him use his shot as much as he has. With Lucas Raymond having a quiet tournament, Johansson has been one of the other names stepping up.

#49 Fabian Zetterlund, RW (San Jose Sharks): Zetterelund was named Sweden’s best player after scoring a goal and registering three shots. More of a depth forward in the NHL, I think his quick footwork has come up big here for the Swedes. He has consistently been one of the team’s better players and has shown good chemistry with Isac Lundestrom.

Kazakhstan

#1 Nikita Boyarkin, G: Boyarkin was the only reason the first period was even close, with the Kazakhs getting outshot 15-1. He finished with 41 saves in a game that saw his team struggle to get the puck out of their zone. Kazakhstan played well defensively but Boyarkin at least kept things close with some huge, timely saves.

#87 Adil Beketayev, D: How about that shot? Beketayev’s blast at 45:36 gave Kazakhstan some life, going top corner on Samuel Ersson to end his shutout. The Kazakhs split the ice time between all seven defensemen to keep them fresh but Beketayev was the best in his own zone out of all them.

Finland

#27 Oliver Kapanen, C (Montreal Canadiens): Kapanen can’t be stopped, can he? The 20-year-old Canadiens prospect has six goals, with a few being tip-ins in front of the net. But today, he wrestled the puck away from a defender, spun around and fired home a shot for his most impressive goal of the tournament. As a young forward, expectations weren’t too high for Kapanen, but he has firmly found himself in the MVP conversation for how much he does around the net.

#81 Iiro Pakarinen, RW: The Finnish vet registered his second assist today, helping him earn best player honors. What stood out to me was that he won a ton of stick battles to regain possession and get the puck somewhere else. The goal-scorer has struggled to get high-quality chances on net but he’s finding other ways to be effective in his first tournament appearance since 2021.

Austria

#96 Benjamin Baumgartner, C: Baumgartner’s goal will love on forever as the Austrians completed the unlikely comeback. He was excellent for Austria and could have scored another goal or two, but that release with 0.2 seconds left was magnificent. He’s been great for Austira on their third line, bringing the energy that helped make him an NHL Draft pick by New Jersey back in 2020.

#30 David Kickert, G: A bit of luck, a bit of athleticism, a bit of everything. Kickert is the primary reason this game was so close, keeping Austria in it in a game that should have been one-sided on paper. He shut the Finns down in the second half, which proved to be so important as Austria continued to find their legs. Performances like this are what saves teams from relegation.

#5 Thomas Raffl, LW: Raffl scored and then nearly helped set up a second as he screened Harri Sateri for the goal that was waved off. The 37-year-old is a big-body presence at 6-foot-4 and 234 pounds, and you can tell the former AHLer is capable of leading his team forward in stressful situations like today. The long-time captain only has two points in this tournament but he’s been good.

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