Men’s World Championship Recap: Nikolaj Ehlers continues strong play on Day 5

Another day, another masterclass from Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers.

The fifth day of the World Championship saw the Danish forward record two points once again, with his six points tying him with Czechia’s Dominik Kubalik and Canada’s MacKenzie Weegar for first in tournament scoring. With a big 6-2 win over Austria, Denmark now sits second in Group A behind USA with a 2-1-0 record.

Hungary’s 3-2 overtime win took a big point away from France, and it also gave the country its first win in top division play since 2016.

Over in Riga, Switzerland is still the only team without a goal against, outscoring their opponents 15-0 after beating Kazakhstan 5-0. Norway also took home a 1-0 victory over Slovenia, leaving the Anze Kopitar-less Slovenians as the lone team in Group B without a victory of some form.

Here’s a look at the top performers on Tuesday:

Denmark stomps on Austria

Nikolaj Ehlers (WPG) has scored the first goal in every game so far, and he started the fun at 9:32. He then set up Patrick Russell for the sixth goal in the final minutes to finish the damage. Ehlers workload was quite light in the third period, playing just 4:53 and 16:50 total. Given how dominant he’s been, and how lopsided the score was, they didn’t need him that much. Better to keep him ready to go.
The best defenseman was Jesper Jensen Aabo, the team’s captain. He had a pair of points and played 23:10 total while manning the power play and generating chances from the point. Jensen Aabo leads all skaters with 25:56 in average ice time, so his 23:10 tonight was a bit below average. But there’s a reason why he’s playing so much: he’s been so darn good, and today was the best outing of all.
Peter Schneider had his best game, doing most of the work on the first Austrian goal and scoring the second. He has a booming shot that goaltenders typically have a tough time against, but his goal came in close. I liked how he caused a bit of mayhem around the crease.
Today was also the best game for Marco Rossi (MIN), who evaded two defenders to create the second Austrian goal. Overall, he’s had a quiet tournament, but he had four shots, including a few high-danger chances that Frederik Dichow (MTL) came up big on.
Mikkel Aagaard didn’t play in the first, and had just 7:26 in total ice time. But he managed to snag a pair of assists while giving the Danes some extra juice in their attack in the second half. Talk about making the most of your opportunities.

Norway quietly shuts out Slovenia

Thomas Berg-Paulsen was rewarded for a good start to the tournament, scoring the lone goal in the first period. He’s had his chances for the Norwegians and scored on one of his two shots today.
The game could have gotten a bit more out of hand had Gasper Kroselj not made 28 saves. There weren’t too many high-danger chances, but he was much busier than Henrik Haukeland at the other end, who had an 18-save shutout.
Miha Verlic had four chances in the second period and was used heavily in the third. He didn’t score for Slovenia but was definitely one of their better players.

Hungary scores rare win over France

Hungarian goaltender Bence Balizs has been incredibly important for his team, and he made a solid 26 saves today. He was tracking the puck well through traffic, and has had a good tournament overall so far. He may have been the difference maker for Hungary.
Balazs Sebok had a pair of assists in Hungary’s win, and they were well deserved. Both were primary assists, with Sebok’s ability to find his teammates in open ice being a bright spot in the victory.
Alexandre Texier (CBJ) was a busy man for France, leading the team with 21:33 in ice time. He had just three shots but he had a couple good setup opportunities – just none of them translated into success.
Charles Bertrand was the best French player today, scoring a goal and adding an assist with a team-leading five shots. When the team lacks NHL firepower, Bertrand always seems to show up.

Switzerland stays perfect win shutout over Kazakhstan

Romain Loeffel scored the final Swiss goal, but he also led all players with six shots on net. So while it took a while, he got the well-deserved goal to close things out. Not bad for a defenseman.
Nino Neiderretier (WPG) played his most complete game, being a force for good at both ends of the ice. He received some extra NHL help from Kevin Fiala (LAK), who gave the Swiss a decent scoring option on the second line. Fiala had a quiet game, but his presence alone, mixed in with Niederreiter’s play, makes Switzerland even more dangerous.
It feels like Andrey Shutov is the only player showing up for Kazakhstan every night. He made 30 saves today and has faced at least 34 shots in all three starts as he continues to give Kazakhstan a fighting chance. The issue? Hard to do much when your team can’t score. So his stats look much worse than they should.
That was Damien Riat‘s best game, putting up two points on the board. His 3-0 goal took all momentum away from Kazakhstan, who, up until that point, had been playing their best hockey in the second period.