Czechia opened their 2026 IIHF World Championship campaign with a 4-1 victory over Denmark, paced by two goals within two minutes in the first period.
Dominik Kubalik and Daniel Vozenilek were on target early on before veteran captain Roman Cervenka recorded his 34th World Championship goal in the third period. Mikkel Aagaard got a late consolation goal for Denmark before Matej Blumel put the icing on the cake for the Czechs with an empty-netter.
The Danes arrived in Switzerland without their NHL stars, and are also missing two key defenders from that roster. Czechia handed a debut to goaltender Josef Korenar, who had the luxury of gradually easing into the game as Denmark struggled to get into the game.
At the other end, Mads Sogaard was kept much busier as the Czech favourites jumped to a 2-0 lead midway through the first period when Kubalik raced away to place an unstoppable shot past Sogaard. The Danes were still visibly deflated from the early goal when Vozenilek doubled the lead 70 seconds later when he squeezed his shot inside Sogaard’s near post.
Denmark improved in the second period. Nick Olesen, who plays his hockey in Czechia with Motor Ceske Budejovice, had a great chance to reduce the deficit when he was put through all alone in front of the net, but Korenar came up with a strong save in the 27th minute. Denmark failed to make the most of their chances to get into the match in the second period, and instead the 40-year-old Roman Cervenka pounced following a goalmouth scramble to give the Czechs a reassuring 3-0 lead in the third.
With five minutes left to play, Sogaard made way for a sixth skater, which allowed Aagaard to reduce the deficit, but the Danes were hardly done celebrating before Lukas Sedlak presented Blumel with an empty-net goal to make it 4-1.
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Swiss hosts get revenge against Americans
In front of a sold-out crowd of 10,000 fans in Zurich-Altstetten, Switzerland secured a flawless start to their gold-medal mission when they got their revenge for their defeat against the USA in last year's final with a 3–1 victory in their opening game.
Pius Suter opened the scoring just 123 seconds into the match, followed by a 12th-minute goal from ZSC Lions forward Sven Andrighetto. Ken Jäger then later sealed the victory to ensure the 3–1 final scoreline as the hosts weathered a late offensive surge from the United States to turn the tide in their favour.