2025 IIHF World Championship: Nazar, Meier highlight top standouts from Day 10
USA, Switzerland, Latvia and Austria came out on top on the third-to-last day of round-robin play at the 2025 World Championship, with some movement happening in the standings along the way.
Sweden, Canada, Finland and Latvia own the top spots in Group A, with Austria sitting two points behind Latvia for the final playoff spot. Slovenia got an all-important point today, but it is not enough to overtake France at this time to avoid relegation with one game. The winner of Monday’s game between the two teams will avoid relegation.
In Group B, Switzerland holds top spot in Group B, with Czechia, USA and Germany sitting behind. Denmark and Germany and Denmark are tied with nine points each, but Germany has two games left on the docket against Czechia and Denmark, with the latter being an extremely important affair.
USA had a couple of eyebrow-raising games against Norway and Germany, but they wouldn’t let that happen again against Kazakhstan. The Americans were in full control of this one, scoring five goals in the second in an eventual 6-1 victory.
The highlight of the day was definitely the Austria vs. Slovenia game. It mattered a ton for both teams, but for different reasons. Austria wanted to keep their playoff hopes alive, while Slovenia was chasing their first points of the tournament to avoid relegation. In the end, Austria won the game 3-2 in the shootout, marking one of the more exciting games in recent days. Slovenia still has a shot to pass France in the standings to avoid going down, but it’s still going to be tough. Austria, meanwhile, pushed itself into a playoff spot for the time being.
The late games were quite one-sided. Slovakia needed to get a point to keep their playoff hopes alive, but they fell flat and lost 5-1 to Latvia, who remains in the playoff hunt. Switzerland, meanwhile, absolutely pummeled Hungary, winning the game 10-0 despite sitting some key players today.
Here’s a look at the top performers from Sunday’s four-game slate:
Kazakhstan 1, USA 6
Kazakhstan
#18 Vladimir Volkov, C: There wasn’t much to get excited about for Kazakhstan, but Volkov did score a goal in the final minute to close out the game. The high-energy center had a solid two-way game, and he used his speed and tenacity to create the 6-1 goal.
USA
#91 Frank Nazar, C (Chicago Blackhawks): The Americans needed someone to step up and Nazar did in the second. He scored a beautiful goal to make it 1-0 and then had two more assists to close out the period. The fast, skilled forward has had an excellent tournament, playing at over a point-per-game on USA’s third line. He has also just been a good, energetic presence, even when he doesn’t score.
#28 Zeev Buium, D (Minnesota Wild): Buium hasn’t played every game, and hasn’t skated in many of the ones he has participated in. But he made an excellent play to set up Tage Thompson in the second period, showing off everything that makes him effective. He’s so smart, skates well and battles hard through the middle of the ice to create high-quality chances. Central Division teams, get ready for Buium to terrorize you for the next two decades.
#7 Michael Kesselring, D (Utah Mammoth): Kesselring was shooting from everywhere on Sunday, and he eventually scored on his fourth attempt. It was a beautiful release, somehow finding an opening by Sergei Kudrayavtsev’s head to make it 5-0. Kesselring has gotten better as this tournament has progressed, and I love how he loves to just get pucks on net no matter what.
#23 Mikey Eyssimont, LW (Seattle Kraken): Eyssimont is a ball of energy, and it worked in his favor today. He had two assists in the five-goal onslaught in the second, often being the one to retrieve the puck. He works so hard and skates so well, and he’s a perfect fourth-liner for this team. I’ve really liked his tournament – he’s underrated because he doesn’t produce much.
Austria 3, Slovenia 2 (OT)
Austria
#3 Peter Schneider, RW: Schneider led the Austrians in shots and had an assist on the 1-1 goal. Marco Kasper is the genesis behind the top line’s success, but it’s often Schneider who is buzzing around, making high-quality plays in high-danger areas. The veteran forward always delivers when Austria needs him because his creativity on the big ice is as good as you’ll find on Austria.
#30 David Kickert, G: Kickert was quieter in the first half but had to come up clutch to close things out. It wasn’t Kickert’s best game, but he was forced to make a couple of huge stops in overtime to send the game to a shootout. He seemed very dialed in as the game got tighter and gave his Austrian team some extra momentum to close out the game. Kickert has been so valuable for Austria and his ability to shut Slovenia down at the end proved crucial today.
Slovenia
#15 Blaz Gregorc, D: Gregorc scored the opening goal of the game, but he also played some solid defensive hockey. He was one of Slovenia’s top minute-munchers, playing all situations in this one. He was good at forcing the Austrians to the outside, giving them little room to generate quality chances in close.
#61 Lukas Horak, G: Horwak was the much busier goaltender today, facing 10 shots in each of the first two periods. He was great at 5-on-5, tracking pucks well and deflecting shots to the corner to prevent rebounds. It wasn’t as intensive as it was when he faced Sweden, but Horak had to make a couple of big stops today and was up for the challenge.
Latvia, 5 Slovakia 1
Latvia
#11 Dans Locmelis, C (Boston Bruins): The Bruins have a good one in Locmelis. He continues to be the team’s hardest-working forward while also driving the play up front, too. He scored a nice goal for the Latvians, and he then continued to backcheck like his life depended on it. Locmelis isn’t the most skilled player but he has added a ton of creativity to his arsenal over the past two years.
#22 Toms Andersons, LW: Andersons had two points in his best game of the tournament. The 31-year-old had two assists against Slovenia but this looked like a more effective game from him. Maybe he was well-rested after playing under 10 minutes in each of the past two games, but he had a great shot while showing some quick footwork.
#97 Haralds Egle, C: This was Egle’s most noticeable game. The 29-year-old was most noticeable on the penalty kill in previous games, but he had a good showing against Finland with four decent chances. Today, he had two goals as the bottom Latvian line continued to find dangerous scoring lanes. His speed was quite noticeable, too.
Slovakia
#87 Pavol Regenda, LW (San Jose Sharks): Regenda has such an infectious work ethic. He’s always chasing and attacking and doing whatever he can to try and create a quality chance around the net. He had three good chances in the first two periods, but nothing seemed to go right for him around the crease. Still, I like what Regenda does when he’s in a spot to generate chances.
Hungary 0, Switzerland 10
Hungary
#22 Vilmos Gallo, RW: Gallo had two of Hungary’s first four shots in a game where the team just couldn’t muster anything in. Gallo is Hungary’s best skater and he likes to get in the way of scoring lanes whenever he can, too. It didn’t matter too much in the end, though.
Switzerland
#28 Timo Meier, RW (New Jersey Devils): Meier had two goals and three points in yet another great game for him. Even when he’s not scoring, he’s finding ways to be impactful, usually by spending a ton of time in front of the net. But today, his shot was second to none and his creativity proved to be too much for Hungary to handle.
#72 Dominik Egli, D: Egli was Switzerland’s seventh defender and his ice time reflected that. His performance, though, did not. He had two goals and an assist and was driving the play better than we’re used to seeing from him. With Jonas Siegenthaler out of the lineup, I thought Egli stepped up and looked great when they needed him to.
#21 Kevin Fiala, LW (Los Angeles Kings): Fiala had a goal and a pair of assists today. He often doesn’t bring the flash and glamour to his shifts, but his smart, quick plays with the puck make him so dangerous around the net. Fiala has had a quiet tournament with just two points in his first three games but this was his breakout effort this year.
#86 JJ Moser, D (Tampa Bay Lightning): Moser was great today with a goal and two assists. The skilled, puck-moving defender seems to love this tournament because he always makes a huge impact with and without the puck. I feel like I’ve wanted to see more from him with Roman Josi not on the team but he has played a couple of good games in a row.
#10 Andres Ambuhl, RW: The most experienced player in the tournament at 41 years old, Ambuhl looked in peak form today. He was still searching for his first point this year heading into the game but he scored three times to help make for the absence of Sven Andrighetto and Denis Malgin. Ambuhl is mostly a power-play stalwart at this point in his career but it’s always fun to see him get involved in the scoring.
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