Minten Earns Player of the Game for Canada –– And More From Day 1 of the World Championship

BostonBruins.com –– The 2026 IIHF World Championship opened on Friday in Switzerland, and the Boston Bruins in attendance were quick to get to work.

Fraser Minten headlined the first day of the tournament with two assists in Team Canada’s 5-3 win over Sweden. The 21-year-old forward, who is skating in his first World Championship, also earned Player of the Game for Canada.

Minten’s first assist of the day came towards the end of the second period. He quickly moved the puck through the neutral zone, chipping it up to Dylan Holloway, who wired it in to give Canada the 3-2 lead.

With the game tied 3-3 in the third period, Minten helped his squad regain the advantage once again, this time alongside his linemates Porter Martone and Connor Brown. Minten drove into the zone with pace, dishing it to Martone, who then found Brown for a quick release on the left side for the 4-3 scoreline.

The World Championship is already proving to be a valuable development tool for Minten, who is earning ice time and responsibility on a roster that includes Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini and John Tavares. The center had 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) through 82 games for the B’s in his rookie season. Canada’s next game is on Saturday at 10:20 a.m. ET against Italy.

Minten is one of eight Bruins representing their respective countries at the tournament. James Hagens, Mason Lohrei, and Alex Steeves are on Team USA; Henri Jokiharju and Joonas Korpisalo are with Finland; Lukas Reichel is with Germany; and Matěj Blümel is with Czechia.

The World Championship spans from May 15 to 31 between Zurich and Fribourg. Friday was the beginning of the group round, during which the 16 teams are split into two groups and play each opponent once in the opening stage, which determines the quarterfinal bracket.

Team USA faced Switzerland on Friday; it was a rematch of last year’s gold-medal contest, when the United States won for the first time since 1933. Switzerland came out on top this time around, though, beating Team USA 3-1.​

Steeves scored the lone goal for his country in his World Championship debut. The 26-year-old forward committed to the play, first collecting the loose puck from Ryan Lindgren’s shot, which was blocked. Steeves then unleashed it from the high slot and followed the rebound near the right circle, where he sniped it in with 11:17 remaining in the third period.

Lohrei logged two shots through 13:54 of ice time while on the first defensive pair with Justin Faulk. Hagens had one shot in 9:03 on ice time while on the fourth line with Sam Lafferty and Paul Cotter.

Team USA’s next game is on Sunday at 6:20 a.m. ET, when they will take on Great Britain.

Jokiharju and Team Finland topped Germany 3-1; Korpisalo did not play. Reichel also did not play for Germany. Jokiharju skated beside Mikko Lehtonen on the second pair and had 16:40 of total ice time in the victory. Finland is back in action on Saturday at 10:20 a.m. ET against Hungary; Germany will play on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. ET against Latvia.

​Blümel clinched Czechia’s 4-1 win over Denmark with an empty-net goal to close out the final frame. The 25-year-old forward – who had 52 points (21 goals, 31 assists) through 58 regular-season games in Providence this year – was on Czechia’s first line with Roman Červenka and Lukáš Sedlák. Czechia next faces Slovenia on Saturday at 2:20 p.m. ET.