World Championship Recap - 14.05.25

The Swedish captain hit Stockholm with that Razzle Dazzle.

Rasmus Andersson scored the decider for Sweden, helping his country reclaim top spot in Group A, while Sam Honzek notched a primary assist for Slovakia as the 2025 IIHF World Championship continued Wednesday.

Sweden 6, Latvia 0

The Swedish faithful had to wait over 30 minutes to see their team find paydirt against Latvia, but Andersson seized his moment and delivered just past the midway mark.

Former Flame Elias Lindholm won a faceoff back to Andersson at the right point, and the Calgary defender sprung into action, skating along the perimeter, then behind the net with the puck before spinning back to the low slot and firing a shot past Latvian netminder Kristers Gudlevskis.

CalgaryFlames.com correspondent Aaron Vickers - on-site in Stockholm - hinted that Andersson's signature death stare made an appearance, though sadly, social media appeared devoid of video evidence.

Anton Bengtsson added a second Swedish tally just 14 seconds later, as the hosts took a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

They poured it on in period three; Lucas Raymond, Adam Larsson and Mika Zibanejad each finding the back of the net before Lindholm rounded out the scoring with 1:11 left on the clock.

At the other end of the rink, Sam Ersson put the finishing touches on his 20-save clean sheet, making six saves in period three including one off a breakaway from former Kamloops Blazers standout Rudolfs Balcers.

Andersson finished the contest with two penalty minutes to go along with his game-winning goal, as he got entangled with a Latvian skater in a scrum at the end of the second period.

Flames captain Mikael Backlund did not play after missing practice Tuesday. Swedish head coach Sam Hallam termed Backlund's absence to Swedish media as 'day-to-day.'

Slovakia 2, France 1

Honzek helped open the scoring for the Slovaks in their victory over France, thanks to some help from an American Hockey League rival.

Linemate Martin Chromiak - who battled Honzek and the Calgary Wranglers all season long as a member of the Ontario Reign - worked his way out of the right corner and from the side of the net, set up the Honzek in the low slot. Off-balance, Honzek chipped at the puck, sending it goalward, for Chromiak to bang in from the seat of his pants 9:32 into the second period.

France tied the game before the middle stanza was through, but Slovakia found the breakthrough they needed on a powerplay 9:13 into period three, when defenceman Mislav Rosandic put home the eventual game-winner.

Honzek finished the contest with three shots on goal over his 12:07 of ice-time.

With the victory, the Slovaks moved past Latvia into third place in Group A, behind only Sweden and Canada.

The tournament continues Thursday with four games, two of which have Flames flavour to them.

MacKenzie Weegar, Ryan Huska and Team Canada go in search of a fourth straight win when they take on Austria, while Dan Vladar, Adam Klapka and Czechia face Hungary.

Both games begin at 12:20 p.m. MT.