Czechs, Swiss Prevail in Opening Worlds Games | WORLDS

The New Jersey Devils are well represented at this years IIHF World Championship being held in Czechia. The tournament opened Friday with six Devils players national teams kicking off the tournament. 

Each day we'll have a recap of all the games your New Jersey Devils are participating in and on Day 1, Ondrej Palat, Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler and Akira Schmid came out on the winning ends of their games, while Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes each suffered defeats on Friday. 

Check out below for your full Day 1 recap!

SWITZERLAND (5) vs. NORWAY (2)

Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler, Akira Schmid

Switzerland ran away with their opening match of the tournament, dominating against Norway, finishing with a decisive 5-2 victory and outshooting the Norweigans by a 40-15 margin.

Devils captain Nico Hischier had a total of 15:46 time on ice with one shot on goal, was 56.25% at the faceoff dot, and centered the top line with Calvin Thurkauf and Philipp Kurashev on his wings. Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler made up the second defensive pairing with Romain Loeffel and finished the game with a primary assist, feeding the puck to Loeffel for the Swiss' 2-1 goal and was a plus-3.

Akira Schmid did not dress for Switzerland.

Before the start of the game, Hischier was named one of four assistant captains for the tournament with defenseman Roman Josi taking on the captaincy.

SLOVAKIA (3) vs. GERMANY (6)

Simon Nemec

After a goal-less first period, Germany struck twice in a 2:45 span early in the middle frame putting the Slovak team on their heels.

Slovakia looked like they were finding more of their groove at the end of the second period, scoring two goals in a 2:03 span to tie the game at two, however Germany, with 25 seconds left in the period retook the lead and never looked back.

Philipp Grubauer made 35 saves on 39 shots for Germany who beat Slovakia 6-4.

Devils rookie defenseman Simon Nemec played 20:11, the second highest ice-time, behind only his D-man partner Martin Fehervay (21:15). Nemec also had one shot on goal.

CZECHIA (1 - SO) vs. FINLAND (0)

Ondrej Palat

It took a shootout to get the job done in front of the hometown crowd but the Czech's did not disappoint. The game was taken to the limit ending in a shootout, the winner coming off the stick of Czech captain Roman Červenka while goaltender Lukas Dostal (ANA) stopped everything he saw both in regulation, overtime and the shootout. 

Ondrej Palat missed just wide on his shootout attempt but he did have one of the more celebratory moments of the game. He was the only player to beat a goaltender in the 65 minutes of play, sending a bouncing puck up and over Fin netminder Harri Sateri’s left pad at 18:18 of the second. The crowd and Palat erupted with exciement before Finland challenged for goaltender interference. 

The goal was ultimately called back, the call going against Palat's linemate David Tomasek in the crease. The goal would come off the board but the Czech faithful got what they wanted in the end with a big home-ice win. 

Palat, the lone Devil in this game, was named an assistant captain earlier in the day and played 15:34 with one shot on goal.

SWEDEN (5) vs. USA (2)

Luke Hughes

The United States opened their 2024 tournament with a 5-2 loss to Sweden, which included two empty-net goals for the Swedes. 

Both rosters were nearly completely filled with NHL players and they were the ones contributing the goals. Joel Eriksson Ek (MIN) had two goals for Sweden, Lucas Raymond (DET), Marcus Johansson (MIN) and Victor Hedman (TBL) also scored for the Tre Kronor.

Zach Werenski (CBJ) and Brock Nelson (NYI) scored for the Americans.

Devils rookie defenseman Luke Hughes was paired up with Ottawa Senators' Jake Sanderson on the second defensive pairing and played 16:40

UP NEXT:

Dawson Mercer and the Canadians make their tournament debut against newly promoted Great Britain at 6:20 a.m. The game will be aired live on the NHL Network.

Ondrej Palat and Czechia will play against Norway and Luke Hughes and the USA go up against Germany, both games beginning at 2:20 p.m. The USA/Germany game will be aired live on the NHL Network.

IMAGE COURTSEY: © IIHF/ANDREA CARDIN