Sweden Thrash Denmark for First Win at Ice Hockey Worlds

Sweden bounce back with dominant victory over

18-year-old Ivar Stenberg became Sweden’s youngest World Championship scorer in a 6-2 win over Denmark in Group B.

Sweden score six to leave Denmark still searching for first points...

Sweden picked up their first win in Group B at the 2026 IIHF World Ice Hockey Championship with a 6-2 victory over Denmark in Fribourg, Switzerland.

After losing 5-3 to Canada on opening day, Sweden got off the mark in the tournament. Denmark remain without a point after following up a 4-1 defeat to the Czech Republic with another loss two days later.

Denmark’s resistance ended in the 10th minute when Viggo Bjorck fed the puck to Mattias Ekholm. Ekholm created space in front of goal and fired home the opener.

Linus Karlsson was called for interference, giving Denmark a chance to get back into the game. The Tre Kronor defense killed the penalty and then extended their lead shortly after returning to full strength. They won the puck behind the Danish net, and Lucas Raymond laid it off for Oliver Ekman-Larsson to score.

The Danish Lions showed some fight either side of the first break. A cross-checking penalty on Daniel Baastrup in the final minute of the first period gave Sweden a power play. Denmark could not hold out when Nick Olesen was penalized for the same offense five minutes into the second period.

Sweden moved the puck around the Danish zone before Raymond fired in a quick shot from a tight angle off Joel Persson’s pass. Less than three minutes later it was 4-0. Robert Hagg and Carl Grundstrom combined in the build-up and set up Jacob Silfverberg, who battled to keep control before scoring.

Grundstrom was then called for interference, letting Denmark pull a goal back 12 minutes into the middle period. Joachim Blichfeld scored just four seconds into the power play. Blichfeld was later penalized for hooking, giving Sweden a chance to make a piece of hockey history.

On the power play, Ivar Stenberg slid the puck across for Bjorck to hit first time. The goal restored Sweden’s four-goal lead and made Bjorck Sweden’s youngest scorer at the World Championship at 18 years and 66 days old.

Confident win for @trekronorse! 🇸🇪💪 #MensWorlds #IIHF

🔗 Game recap: https://t.co/FUwRTKtIrF pic.twitter.com/TjkxEUMEgK

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 17, 2026

Three players went to the box for fighting early in the third period, and both teams conceded a string of penalties after that. Denmark finally made one count when Mikkel Aagaard finished well on a power play with just over eight minutes remaining.

Any hopes of a late Danish comeback ended five minutes from time. Karlsson scored from close range after a neat pass from Simon Holmstrom to seal the 6-2 win.

Sam Hallam’s side move up to fourth in Group B, three points behind Canada and Slovakia and one behind the Czech Republic. Only a better goal difference than Italy keeps Denmark off the bottom of the eight-team table.

Both teams play again on Monday 18th. Denmark face Canada while Sweden take on the Czechs.