Kazakhs suffer as Cervenka shines

Czechia 8 Kazakhstan 1 (1-0, 3-0, 4-1)

Team Kazakhstan suffered its heaviest loss of the 2025 IIHF World Championship – while Gagarin Cup winner Roman Cervenka enjoyed a day to remember.

The Czech captain potted a hat-trick in his 100th World Championship appearance. In doing so, the 39-year-old overtook Ilya Kovalchuk to become the most productive player at the Worlds in the 21st Century. Kovi has 86 points, Cervenka moves to 87 (32+55). Those 32 goals tie Jaromir Jagr as the all-time leading goalscorer for Czechia in World Championship play (although Jagr scored three for Czechoslovakia in his debut campaign in 1989).

Coincidentally, Cervenka played alongside Jagr for Avangard in his first KHL season in 2010/2011, then was a team-mate of Kovalchuk’s as SKA won the Gagarin Cup in 2015.

Vyacheslav Kolesnikov got Kazakhstan's only goal. Jelal-ad-din Amirbekov made his first start in goal, and managed to thwart David Pastrnak's second-period penalty shot. However, he was replaced by Maxim Pavlenko early in the third after the fifth Czech goal. Matej Stransky and Adam Klapka had two goals apiece for the Czechs.

While the Czechs continue to impress in defense of the title they won in Prague last year, Kazakhstan is in danger. This was a fourth successive loss after that encouraging opening win over Norway – and with the USA and Switzerland to come, it’s not clear where another victory will come to ensure top-flight survival. Torpedo’s Dmitry Breus admitted that Oleg Bolaykin’s team will have “play like our lives depend on it” in those remaining two match-ups. Kazakhstan faces the USA tomorrow before taking on the Swiss on the final day of group stage action on Tuesday. 

Latvia faces anxious playoff race

In Group A, Latvia’s playoff hopes look likely to come down to a head-to-head clash with Slovakia. In Saturday’s early game, the Latvians lost 1-2 against Finland and stay fifth. That’s one point behind Slovakia, which has played a game fewer. Mikko Lehtonen, once of Jokerit and SKA, got the game-winner for the Finns, who are up to 11 points in third place. Rodrigo Abols scored late for Latvia but could not trigger a fightback. Slovakia faces unbeaten Canada on Saturday evening, looking to extend its lead over Latvia in the top four.

At the foot of the standings, Slovenia remains the only team without a point in this year’s competition. The latest game, a 1-9 loss to Finland, saw Eeli Tolvanen score four goals. Tolvanen had a stellar season as a rookie with Jokerit in 2017/2018; his 36 points in the KHL earned him Olympic and World Championship calls while still in his teens. Now playing in the NHL with the Kraken, this is his first international tournament since the 2019 World Juniors.