Caufield’s four-point effort headlines final day of preliminaries

MONTREAL – Day 12 of the 2024 IIHF World Championship saw six matchups with all but one featuring a member of the Canadiens organization, as preliminary round play wrapped up in Prague and Ostrava.

Vinzenz Rohrer (Austria) bowed out of the tournament, while Cole Caufield (United States), Kaiden Guhle (Canada), Oliver Kapanen (Finland) and Juraj Slafkovsky (Slovakia) played their final tune up games before Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Here’s a recap of today’s games and a look at how the knockout round is shaping up:

AUSTRIA 2 – 4 GREAT BRITAIN

Austria’s hopes of making it past the preliminary round ended with an upset loss to Great Britain on Tuesday. Nonetheless, the Austrians clinched their spot at the 2025 IIHF World Championship with a fifth-place finish in Group A.

Great Britain, on the other hand, has been relegated.

Rohrer fired two shots on goal and logged 9:02 of ice time in his tournament finale. The 19-year-old finished the championship with two assists in seven games for Austria.

CANADA 4 – 3 CZECHIA (OT)

Canada locked up the top spot in Group A with an overtime win over Czechia.

Dylan Cozens played the hero with his second goal of the game and tournament-leading eighth tally in the extra frame. The Whitehorse, YT native now has goals in nine of his last 10 appearances for Canada dating back to last year’s event.

Dawson Mercer and Brandon Hagel also scored for the Canadians, who bring an undefeated record into Thursday’s quarterfinal against Slafkovsky and Slovakia.

Guhle led Team Canada with 21:23 of ice time and was plus-2 against the Czechs.

LATVIA 3 – 6 UNITED STATES

The United States doubled up on Latvia on the strength of Caufield’s four-point effort, moving them into second place in Group B ahead of the elimination stage.

To start his night, the Habs forward gained possession in the neutral zone before setting up Brady Tkachuk for the game’s opening goal.

P1 01:23 0-[1] Tkachuk (Caufield)

Later in the period, Caufield found Zach Werenski in the slot, who made no mistake in doubling the Americans’ lead.

P1 13:20 0-[2] Werenski (Caufield, Pinto)

The 23-year-old then scored with a laser on the power play early in the middle stanza, giving the United States a three-goal cushion.

P2 02:34 0-[3] Caufield (Boldy, Tkachuk)

Finally, the product of Wisconsin capped his four-point performance with a fantastic individual effort, leading to his fourth goal and eighth point of the group stage.

P3 08:46 3-[5] Caufield (Pinto)

Caufield added three shots on goal to his tournament total and was plus-2 in 13:13 of TOI.

FINLAND 1 – 3 SWITZERLAND

Switzerland sailed to a tidy, low scoring victory over Finland, setting themselves up for a date with Germany in the quarters.

Kapanen was quiet in his 13:19 of playing time, directing just one shot on goal in the loss. The Finn did, however, win 80% (8/10) of his faceoffs.

SWEDEN 6 – 1 SLOVAKIA

Slovakia was no match for Sweden on Tuesday, who concluded the group stage in style with a perfect 7-0-0-0 record to claim top honors in Group B.

Slafkovsky contributed a secondary assist on the Slovaks’ lone goal. The 20-year-old recorded two shots on goal and was even in the plus-minus department in a team-high 22:02 of action against the Swedes.

P3 10:49 5-[1] Ivan (Tatar, Slafkovsky)

What’s next?

The knockout round begins on Thursday with the following quarterfinal matchups in Ostrava and Prague:

Quarterfinal 1: Guhle and Canada take on Slafkovsky and Slovakia at 10:20 a.m. ET at Prague Arena.

Quarterfinal 2: Switzerland and Germany go head-to-head at 10:20 a.m. at Ostrava Arena.

Quarterfinal 3: Caufield and the United States meet Czechia at 2:20 p.m. at Prague Arena.

Quarterfinal 4: Kapanen and Finland look to knock off Sweden in an all-Scandanavian quarterfinal at 2:20 p.m. in Ostrava.

For the English broadcast schedule, click here. For the French television times, click here.

Cover photo credit: Matt Zambonin/IIHF