2024 IIHF World Championship Roundup: Standouts from the quarterfinals

And then there were four.

Canada, Switzerland, Czechia and Sweden are the four teams moving on to play for gold at the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship, with Canada having the chance to repeat as champions.

Canada is off to the semifinal for the fifth straight year after winning their game against Slovakia 6-3. It got a bit testy with some undisciplined penalties in the third, but they still managed to hold on thanks to a three-point effort from Nick Paul.

Switzerland, meanwhile, took a 3-1 win over Germany in a game they controlled from the get-go.

Czechia won their quarterfinal game off a wild bounce. David Spacek’s shot from the point hit off Pavel Zacha’s rib and bounced past Charlie Lindgren, scoring the lone goal of the game. The Americans entered as one of the teams many expected to win gold and had the top three scorers in the tournament heading into Thursday, but it didn’t matter in the end.

Sweden needed overtime to keep their perfect record alive, but Joel Eriksson Ek scored the game-winner goal off a tip to make it 2-1 in extra time.

Here’s the semifinal matchups for Saturday, May 25:

Czechia vs. Sweden – 8:20 AM ET
Canada vs. Switzerland – 12:20 PM ET

And here’s a look at the top players from the four-game slate on Thursday:

Canada

#91 John Tavares, C (Toronto Maple Leafs): Tavares had an assist, but he also had four dangerous scoring chances and was excellent in the faceoff dot, too. He hasn’t really had a bad game – he’s just been solid enough every game to have a positive impact. When he’s talking to the team, the young players especially listen to him.

#20 Nick Paul, C (Tampa Bay Lightning): This was Paul’s best game of the tournament, scoring twice and adding an assist. One of the goals was an empty-netter, but he was put out there to stop some of Slovakia’s best stars and then showed why he’s one of Canada’s best two-way forwards. He just puts in the effort all over the ice and his chemistry with Dylan Guenther and Connor Bedard at different points in this tournament has been noticeable.

#14 Dylan Guenther, LW (Utah): Guenther was named top player for Canada after scoring a goal and an assist. He had three shots in the third period as his line started to really click, but he just had a good puck possession game as a hole. I think he’s gotten better every game since sitting out a game earlier in the tournament as a healthy scratch – he’s just playing with more confidence.

#19 Jared McCann, LW (Seattle Kraken): McCann made a good effort that led to the first Canadian goal, and then he nearly had another in the second period. It just seemed like he was seeing the ice well and seizing opportunities to rush to the net whenever he had open space. There was more urgency in his game today than we’re used to seeing.

Slovakia

#20 Juraj Slafkovsky, RW (Montreal Canadiens): From blocking shots with his hand and assisting goals, Slafkovsky tried to do everything possible to remain relevant in this game. He finished his tournament without a goal, but he was still one of Slovakia’s most important players given how he found ways to contribute more than we’re used to seeing in both ends of the ice.

#87 Pavol Regenda, LW: Regenda had an assist, some hits, some decent blocks and did a good job in his individual matchups. From a defensive side of the things, the Slovaks were swimming around the net a bit too often but Regenda seemed to handle the space well.

USA

#79 Charlie Lindgren, G (Washington Capitals): There wasn’t much Lindgren could have done on the 1-0 goal. It bounced off a body in front and in despite Lindgren having near-perfect body positioning. Lindgren looked more dialed in today as he figured out his angles on the bigger ice, keeping his team in it while they struggled to solve Dostal.

Czechia

#3 Radko Gudas, D (Anaheim Ducks): Gudas had one main job: annoy the heck out of Brady Tkachuk. Mission accomplished as he kept getting under his skin every time he possibly could. Gudas is just a menace, and if you watch him in the NHL, you know exactly what he likes to do. That seemed to frustrate the Americans today.

#1 Lukas Dostal, G (Anaheim Ducks): Dostal was rock solid today as the Americans had their better chances with the puck. The 23-year-old had to beat two NHL veterans to earn the No. 1 spot but has been one of the best goaltenders the get-go. Even when he had Tkachuk in front trying to take space away, Dostal was unbeatable, making 36 saves for the shutout.

Finland

#33 Emil Larmi, G: Larmi had to be sharp as the Finns had just eight shots in the first 4- minutes and allowed 24. Larmi’s glove hand looked great, but he also tracked shots well through traffic and didn’t give Sweden much room to shoot.

Sweden

#14 Joel Eriksson Ek, C (Minnesota Wild): Eriksson Ek should have had a few goals with the way he was shooting. But in the end, he had the most important one, tipping in a shot from the point by Victor Hedman to win the game 2-1. He also defended like a mad man, easily establishing himself as the best player on the ice.

#26 Rasmus Dahlin, D (Buffalo Sabres): Dahlin was the hero- somehow beating Larmi between the legs with a shot to make it 1-0 late. That was the lone goal of the game that saw Dahlin help lead a rock-solid blueline. It was Dahlin’s second goal of the tournament, but like usual, his speed and defensive awareness have allowed him to have a great showing.

Switzerland

#13 Nico Hischier, C (New Jersey Devils): Hischier has now set a career-best in goals at this tournament with his sixth, beating Philipp Grubauer for the 2-0 goal late in the opening stanza. He’s been a solid dual-threat forward as a passer and a shooter, and he doesn’t miss many shots from open space.

#97 Jonas Siegenthaler, D (New Jersey Devils): Siegenthaler doesn’t put up a ton of points, but he snagged two assists today and then played some excellent shutdown defense. Roman Josi is Switzerland’s star puck-moving blueliner, while Siegnthaler is the best option at keeping the puck away from goaltender Leonardo Genoni. He hasn’t had a bad game yet in this tournament.

Germany

#72 Dominik Kahun, RW: It was a difficult game for the Germans, but Kahun scored the lone goal and came really close to beating Genoni on another chance. It wasn’t enough in the end, but Kahun was Germany’s best player with the puck.

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