Canada Down Sweden 5-3 in Group B Opener
Canada opened the 2026 IIHF World Championship with a 5-3 win over Sweden at BCF Arena in Fribourg on Friday, the headline matchup of the tournament's first day in Group B. A crowd of 7,500 saw eight goals split across three periods.
John Tavares put Canada on the board at 2:21 of the first period, finishing a setup from Darnell Nurse and Robert Thomas. Ryan O'Reilly doubled the lead at 16:00 from Gabriel Vilardi and Morgan Rielly to send Canada into the first intermission up 2-0.
Sweden answered in a wild second period. Jacob Larsson cut the lead at 8:21 from a Jack Berglund assist, and Lucas Raymond tied the game on the power play at 11:04, with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Berglund picking up assists. Dylan Holloway restored Canada's edge just over two minutes later (14:16) from Fraser Minten and Dylan DeMelo. Sweden answered again through Mattias Ekholm, who beat Jet Greaves at 15:33 from Linus Karlsson and Simon Holmstrom. Three Swedish goals in a single period had Tre Kronor square at 3-3 heading into the third.
Connor Brown reclaimed the lead at 3:21 of the final period, set up by Porter Martone and Fraser Minten. Dylan Cozens iced the game at 12:59, taking another feed from Martone alongside Nurse to make it 5-3. Magnus Hellberg was pulled at 58:05 for an extra attacker, but Sweden could not complete the comeback.
Greaves stopped 22 of 25 shots for Canada to earn the win. Hellberg took the loss with 21 saves on 26 shots. Sweden outshot Canada 14-8 in the middle period, but Canada controlled the game overall 26-25 on goal.
For Sweden, captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson and alternate captains Lucas Raymond and Mattias Ekholm all factored into the scoring in their first match wearing the new letters. Sweden took 12 penalty minutes to Canada's 6, and discipline ultimately tipped the night in favor of the more efficient Canadians.
Both teams return to action Saturday in Fribourg. Sweden face Slovenia at 20:20 CET, and Canada take on tournament newcomers Italy at 16:20 CET.