2025 IIHF World Championship: Thompson, Solberg highlight top standouts from Day 6
We’re nearly a week into the 2025 IIHF World Championship, and we saw some interesting battles in Denmark and Sweden on Wednesday.
The day started off with two wildly different games. Slovakia bounced back from a loss to Austria two days ago to beat France 2-1, with France’s disallowed goal in the first period proving deadly.
But in the other game in Denmark, it was a crazy affair that saw USA take a 5-1 lead in the second period. But Norway didn’t back down, and after a hat-trick from defenseman Stian Solberg, the game ultimately was sent to overtime. Tage Thompson would get USA back into the win column with a hat-trick of his own, but it was much tighter than anyone could have expected.
The two hosts won their late games, with Sweden shutting out Latvia 6-0. Denmark’s game was important to get them out of last place in Group B, and they managed to do that with a 5-1 win over Kazakhstan to make the race to avoid relegation even more interesting.
Here’s a look at the top performers from Wednesday’s action:
Norway 5, USA 6 (OT)
Norway
#72 Stian Solberg, D (Anaheim Ducks): That was easily one of the biggest single-game performances any defenseman has had at this tournament. Sure, he had some misplays, like a giveaway that led to one USA goal and a penalty that led to another. But Solberg finished the game with a hat-trick, using screens in front to time his shot and beat Jeremy Swayman. Solberg has been the backbone of this team and might even win top defenseman when this tournament is over. Oh, and watch out, Anaheim defenders – Solberg is coming for your job next year.
#28 Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, C (Detroit Red Wings): MBN had another good game, serving as Norway’s best two-way forward. He also had two assists, giving him three points in two games. He blocks shots, has good speed and thinks at such a high level. We didn’t see much offense from him in Sweden this year, but we saw a player who battles so hard and can bully players without taking stupid penalties. He’s going to be a good NHLer.
#12 Noah Steen, LW (Tampa Bay Lightning): Steen has been a perfect fourth-liner for Norway. He has seven shots over the past two games, and he even scored on the breakaway today. Between his blocked shots and high energy, Steen has been to contain, and he’s very smart, too. His PK game was excellent today. I’m not sure Steen is a future NHLer, but I loved that the Bolts took a chance on him as an overager in the seventh round last year because he has an NHL-level work ethic.
USA
#72 Tage Thompson, RW (Buffalo Sabres): Thompson registered a team-high seven shots and scored on three of them, including the game-winner. It came at a time when the Americans were clearly panicking and needed a calm presence to end the game. With the way Thompson has played – arguably USA’s best forward so far – you have to wonder what he’d be capable of in an NHL playoff game. He battles hard, overwhelms defenders and has a lethal shot, and he’s playing some excellent hockey right now.
#9 Clayton Keller, LW (Utah Mammoth): Keller had a goal and two assists today, and he used traffic in front of the net to his advantage better than anyone. Keller is a smart shooter who uses his patience to shoot when the time’s right. He also had great chemistry with Mammoth teammate Cooley, featuring some of the best passes in the game. Keller has been one of USA’s best players in every single game, but today might have been his most impressive effort yet.
#92 Logan Cooley, C (Utah Mammoth): Cooley is so much fun to watch. He had the primary assist on the game-winning goal, but he also served as the net-front presence on the top line. He’s not particularly big, but he knows where he needs to be to contribute and he delivered. He had just one assist today, but he was excellent in the faceoff dot and was always chasing the puck whenever he was on the ice.
#8 Zach Werenski, D (Columbus Blue Jackets): Werenski made his tournament debut and played over 31 minutes. Not too shabby, even if the game went to overtime. Werenski is one of the best defensemen in the NHL and definitely the best in the tournament. He had an assist today, but, more importantly, he exposed issues with USA’s defense. Nobody moves, thinks or shoots like him, but it was Werenski’s ability to get players away from the crease better than anyone that really stood out today.
France 1, Slovakia 2
France
#30 Antoine Keller, G (Washington Capitals): That’s another great effort from the Caps prospect. He stopped 33 of 35 shots, including 14 in the third period, as Slovakia tried to expand their advantage. Keller has been integral to France’s early play and nearly lugged the team to a win over France a few days ago. He’s the future of France’s net, that’s for sure.
Slovakia
#88 Martin Chromiak, RW (Los Angeles Kings): Chromiak scored the 1-0 goal for Slovakia to end what had been a tight deadlock. The energetic forward had two decent looks in the game but was surprised to see him play so little despite his speed and skill. I liked his chemistry with Dalibor Dvorsky – they kept finding each other all game long.
#87 Pavol Regenda, LW (San Jose Sharks): Regenda was all over the creating plays and taking shots, and even got a fighting major after the final whistle. He’s aggressive, competitive and loves to cause damage with the puck on his stick. He didn’t score today, but he did a bit of everything.
Denmark 5, Kazakhstan 1
Denmark
#80 Frederik Dichow, G: The former Montreal Canadiens prospect looked sharp today in a game he needed to be in. The 2-1 goal wasn’t pretty but he otherwise looked quick and agile as we’ve come to know him to be. These are the types of games Denmark can’t afford to lose, and they often rely on their goalies to do the heavy lifting.
#86 Joachim Blichfeld, RW: Blichfeld was counted on being a big-time performer for Denmark but had just one goal heading into tonight. Today, he had a pair of assists, including a great feed to Mikkel Aagaard on the 1-0 goal that sparked Denmark’s momentum. The former San Jose Shark is skilled and has a nice shot, and today was a much-needed big effort from the 26-year-old.
#11 Alexander True, C: True scored twice, including the back-breaker in the third that essentially forced Kazakhstan to shut down. True’s speed and quick hands allowed him to get into scoring lanes, and his breakaway goal was excellent. The former NHLer had a quiet year in the SHL but today was his best World Championship game ever.
Kazakhstan
#20 Maxim Pavlenko, G: Pavlenko was the busier of the two goalies, and the loss wasn’t his fault. He was excellent in the second period despite allowing two goals, with him not having much of a chance on the 2-0 power-play goal. He was left out to dry in the third as Kazakhstan seemingly shut down, and there wasn’t much more Pavlenko could have done.
Latvia 0, Sweden 6
Latvia
#94 Kristians Rubins, D: It was a difficult game for Latvia, but Rubins had another great showing. The big, shutdown defender led all Latvians with four shots, and while none were particularly dangerous, he was one of the few players on the team who seemed engaged enough to try something.
Sweden
#23 Lucas Raymond, RW (Detroit Red Wings): Yet another great game for Raymond. This time, he scored his first goal of the tourney, but he also was great at getting back into the D zone to help support the blueline. Add in a late assist on the power play and it’s clear he means business. Raymond might not win the scoring title but he has consistently been one of Sweden’s best players.
#8 Jonas Brodin, D (Minnesota Wild): Brodin had two assists today and would have scored another goal had a Latvian defender not instead tipped in himself in the third period. Defensively, Brodin has been as good as you expect him to be. But offensively, Brodin has been one of the best blueliners in the tournament.
#91 Leo Carlsson, C (Anaheim Ducks): Carlsson helped get the Swedes well ahead late with two assists in the third. He makes smart passes – both long range and in close – and has created plenty of quality chances all tournament long. Carlsson doesn’t get enough love in Anaheim, but he’s really coming into his own and showing star qualities here with Sweden.
#10 Alexander Wennberg, C (San Jose Sharks): Wennberg had a two-point night with smart plays to set up both Mika Zibanejad and Anton Bengtsson. The veteran forward took on a more two-way approach to this team but seemed to create a lot of high-quality chances in the attacking zone today. After recording just one assist in three games prior, it was good to see him stand up today with a big night.
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