Kazakhs can’t handle the True-th

Two goals from Denmark’s Alexander True pushed Kazakhstan to a 1-5 loss in Wednesday’s World Championship action. Nikita Mikhailis kept up his productive streak with his country’s only goal but the night belonged to the host nation in Herning.

Host arrives at last

Kazakhstan 1 Denmark 5 (0-0, 0-2, 1-3)

Denmark got its first win at the 2025 IIHF World Championship, sinking Kazakhstan and setting up a four-way battle to avoid relegation. Wednesday night’s opponents are tied on three points, along with Hungary. That trio is two clear of Norway, which got its first point of the tournament this afternoon. The bottom team in Group B will be relegated to Division IA next season.

The Kazakhs had the better of the first period, outshooting Denmark 7-1. However, there were few big chances to score on Frederik Dichow, while Maxim Pavlenko’s one stop was a big one to deny Joachim Blichfeld.

In the middle frame, the host nation stepped it up. Blichfeld turned provider for Mikkel Aagaard to open the scoring, then Alexander True doubled the lead on the power play.

There was some hope for Kazakhstan when Nikita Mikhailis scored his third goal in three games early in the third. But two goals in 20 seconds took the game away, with True getting his second. An empty-netter finished a miserable evening for the Kazakhs.

Norway brings thrilling fightback, Sweden crushes Latvia

Wednesday’s early games saw former Lada defenseman Mislav Rosandic pot the winner for Slovakia as it edged past France 2-1. He struck on the power play midway through the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and keep the Slovaks in contention for a playoff spot. In Group B, Norway rallied from 1-5 to take the USA to overtime, powered by a hat-trick from 19-year-old defenseman Stian Solberg. But the Americans had their own hat-trick hero: Tage Thompson completed his treble with an OT winner.

Later, in Stockholm, Sweden eased to a convincing 6-0 win over Latvia. That puts the Tre Kronor on top of Group A with four wins from four. Canada is also perfect, but has played just three games to date.