2022 IIHF World Hockey Championship day 12 recap

The preliminary round at the 2022 IIHF World Hockey Championship wrapped up on Tuesday with six games and plenty of seeding for the quarter-finals to be determined.

In the early games, Switzerland took on Germany and Sweden battled Latvia.

Switzerland looked to wrap up the first seed in Group A with a win in any fashion against Germany. Germany took a 2-1 lead after the first, but Switzerland came back to take a 3-2 lead after two. With just over twelve minutes remaining in the third, Germany scored to tie the game at 3-3. The game went all the way to the shootout where captain Nico Hischier scored the winner.

Switzerland's goals: Pius Suter, Denis Malgin, Andres Ambuhl.
Germany's goals: Matthias Plachta, Kai Wissmann, Stefan Loibl.

Over in Tampere, Sweden netminder Linus Ullmark made 21 saves to earn the shutout in a 1-0 win over Latvia. For his part, Latvian goaltender Arturs Silovs played really well, making 34 saves on 35 shots.

Sweden's goal: William Nylander.

In the second game of the day in Helsinki, it was a battle for the fourth and final quarter-final spot in Group A between Denmark and Slovakia. Coming into the day, Denmark held the spot and needed a win in any fashion or an overtime/shootout loss to advance to the quarter-finals for the first-time since 2016. For Slovakia, they needed a win in regulation to advance to their second straight quarter-finals.

Team Slovakia captain Tomas Tatar led the way with two goals, while 2022 projected top-five pick Simon Nemec scored his first of the tournament and added three assists as they defeated Denmark, 7-1.

Slovakia's goals: Tomas Tatar (x2), Simon Nemec, Juraj Slafkovsky, Pavol Regenda (x2), Mislav Rosandic.
Denmark's goal: Joachim Blichfield.

Danish forward Frans Nielsen played in the final game of his career on Tuesday and did it the way he wanted, by wearing his nation's jersey. After the game, he spoke about his career with the IIHF.

"It's emotional."🥲

Frans Nielsen saying goodbye to his incredible career.👋@DKIshockey #IIHFWorlds pic.twitter.com/LZQI1k1kkS— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 24, 2022

Meanwhile in the second game of the day in Tampere, the United States defeated Norway by a score of 4-2 and locked up the fourth seed in Group B and set up a quarter-final date with Switzerland.

United States' goals: Matt Boldy, Ryan Hartman, Sean Farrell, Ben Meyers.
Norway's goals: Andreas Martinsen, Daniel Rokseth.

After losing 3-1 to Denmark on Monday, Canada looked to bounce back and finish the preliminary round with a win over France. Canada was dominant for the majority of Tuesday's game and defeated the French, 7-1.

Canada's goals: Dylan Cozens, Pierre-Luc Dubois (x2), Damon Severson, Zach Whitecloud, Max Comtois, Eric O'Dell.
France's goal: Anthony Rech.

The hosts wrapped up the preliminary round with a game against Czechia which would determine the final standings in Group B. Finnish goaltender Jussi Olkinuora was outstanding once again, making 24 saves for his third consecutive shutout and fourth of the tournament as his nation defeated the Czechs by a score of 3-1.

Finland's goals: Joel Armia, Toni Rajala, Sakari Manninen.

Quarter-Final schedule (Thursday, May 26th)
(B2) Sweden vs (A3) Canada - 9:20 a.m. ET
(A2) Germany vs (B3) Czechia - 9:20 a.m. ET
(B1) Finland vs (A4) Slovakia - 1:20 p.m. ET
(A1) Switzerland vs (B4) United States - 1:20 p.m. ET

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