Kazakhs suffer first loss

Day three of the IIHF World Championship saw another brave performance from Kazakhstan in a 1-4 loss against Germany. Admiral’s Slovak defenseman Mario Grman had an assist in his country’s win over Slovenia.

Mikhailis goal not enough for Kazakhstan

Germany 4 Kazakhstan 1 (1-1, 1-0, 2-0)

Kazakhstan produced another battling display at the 2025 IIHF World Championship, but suffered a 1-4 loss against Germany. An early goal from Nikita Mikhailis and another big goaltending display from Maxim Pavlenko were the highlights for Oleg Bolyakin’s team, but the Germans took control early in the third to record a second successive victory in Herning, Denmark.

Buoyed by a 2-1 win over Norway in Saturday’s opener, Kazakhstan looked for more against the Germans. With just three minutes played, Mikhailis opened the scoring. The Metallurg forward enjoyed a slice of good fortune when his feed from the boards was diverted into his own net by German captain Mortiz Seider.

But that was as good as it got for the Kazakhs. Germany tied the game midway through the first period on a goal from Maximilian Kastner, while Pavlenko was called into another all-action display after his heroics against the Norwegians. The Germans got ahead in the 35th minute when a breakaway made it 2-1. Then at the start of the third, Arkady Shestakov was denied by a blocker save at one end before Lukas Reichel fired home a third at the other. Lukas Kalble wrapped it up shortly afterwards. Kazakhstan's next game is on Tuesday against winless Hungary. 

Latvia, Slovakia off the mark

Admiral defenseman Mario Grman had an assist as Slovakia got its first win of the Worlds. He contributed to a Pavol Regenda goal, the second in a 3-1 win over Slovenia in Stockholm. Patrik Rybar was scratched after featuring in the 0-5 loss against the host nation on Friday night and missed the chance to face his Kunlun Red Star clubmate Jan Drozg, who featured on the Slovenian second line.

Latvia made a winning start with a 4-1 victory over France in its opening game late on Saturday. However, the 2023 bronze medallist came swiftly back down to earth in Stockholm on Sunday afternoon. Despite an early goal from Eduards Tralmaks – who beat Marc-Andre Fleury with the first shot the legendary goalie faced in World Championship play – Latvia fell to a 1-7 loss against Canada. Kent Johnson and Travis Konecny had two goals apiece, Sid Crosby made three assists.

As it stands, Canada and Sweden are undefeated from two games in Group A. Finland can join them on six points with victory over France on Sunday evening. In Group B, Germany and the USA are perfect so far.