The United States is in danger of missing out on the knockout round of the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship after a 4-2 preliminary-round loss to Latvia on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Matthew Tkachuk cut Team USA’s deficit to 3-2 with less than a minute left in regulation, but Latvia responded with the second of two empty-netters to seal the win.<\/p>\n
The victory allowed Latvia to leapfrog the United States for the final knockout-round slot in Group B.<\/p>\n
The United States, with two group stage games remaining, will look to climb back into the top four before the knockout round begins Thursday.<\/p>\n
Check back for Saturday’s scores and updated group standings as the preliminary round of 2026 Worlds continues in Switzerland.<\/p>\n
Saturday Scores<\/p>\n
Denmark def. Slovenia, 4-0<\/p>\n
Switzerland def. Hungary, 9-0<\/p>\n
Czechia def. Slovakia, 3-2<\/p>\n
Germany def. Austria, 6-2<\/p>\n
Group Standings<\/p>\n
Teams get three points for regulation wins, two for overtime wins and one for overtime losses. The top four teams in each group advance to the knockout stage.<\/p>\n
Switzerland (18 points, 6-0)Finland (15 points, 5-0)Austria (9 points, 3-2)Germany (7 points, 2-4 with 1 OTL)Latvia (6 points, 2-3)United States (5 points, 2-3 with 1 OTW)Hungary (3 points, 1-4)Great Britain (0 points, 0-5)Canada (14 points, 5-0 with 1 OTW)Czechia (13 points, 4-1 with 1 OTL)Slovakia (11 points, 4-1 with 1 OTW)Norway (10 points, 3-2 with 1 OTL)Sweden (9 points, 3-3)Denmark (3 points, 1-4)Slovenia (6 points, 1-5 with 1 OTW and 1 OTL)Italy (0 points, 0-5)<\/p>\n
Saturday Highlights<\/p>\n
Latvian goaltender Kristers Gud\u013cevskis stood strong against an offensive barrage from the United States.<\/p>\n
Gud\u013cevskis made 45 saves to backstop Latvia, which was outshot 47-22, to its first win of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Latvia got on the board first before Tkachuk tied the game with his first goal of the tournament on a second-period power play.<\/p>\n
After Gud\u013cevskis weathered USA’s comeback push, Latvia took back the lead in the third period with a go-ahead goal from Dennis Smirnovs.<\/p>\n
Sandis Vilmanis scored an empty-netter for Latvia before Tkachuk’s second goal of the game, then put another puck into the empty net to seal the win.<\/p>\n
The United States will need to turn things around in upcoming group stage games against Hungary and Austria on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, in order to make it into the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Denmark def. Slovenia, 4-0<\/p>\n
Denmark earned its first win of the tournament thanks to a 13-save shutout from Mads Sogaard.<\/p>\n
After Denmark completed a penalty kill late in the first to keep the game scoreless, Joachim Blichfeld broke the tie with a second-period power-play goal.<\/p>\n
Patrick Russell scored twice to help pad the lead before Mikkel Aagaard recorded his fourth point of the game on an empty-netter. Denmark finished the win having outshot their opponents 30-13.<\/p>\n
Switzerland def. Hungary, 9-0<\/p>\n
The home team remained on top of the preliminary round Saturday with another blowout win.<\/p>\n
Roman Josi opened scoring late in the first period, then completed a natural hat trick on a power play early in the second to give the Swiss team an early 3-0 lead over Hungary.<\/p>\n