World Championship Recap - 18.05.26

Four Flames hit the ice at the 2026 IIHF Men's World Championship on Monday, with Olli Määttä and Finland downing Devin Cooley, Matt Coronato, and the USA while Zach Whitecloud and Canada picked up their third straight win.

USA 2, Finland 6

Thanks to their dominant effort over the USA, Määttä and Finland remain a perfect 3-0 at the tournament. The Flames defenceman also picked up his first pair of points, with a couple of assists in the victory.

The countries traded goals in the opening 10 minutes, with Finnish forward Lenni Hämeenaho beating Joseph Woll at 6:06 before Coronato leveled things out with his first goal of the tournament, sending a blistering one-timer past Justus Annunen at 7:44.

It was all Finland after that point, with Patrik Puistola and Aatu Räty getting pucks past Woll before the end of the first period and Lenni Hämeenaho and Saku Mäenalanen finding the back of the net in first two minutes of the second period.

Määttä assisted on the go-ahead goal from Puistola, sending a backhand pass from the defensive zone to Mikko Lehtonen, who dished it off to streaking Puistola, who then snapped it into the back of the net.

He also set up Mäenalanen's goal, picking up the puck along the boards and throwing it over to the forward, who was perched in front of the net.

Cooley came in as relief for Woll at the 1:57 mark of the middle frame.

A powerplay goal from Ryan Leonard early in the third period gave the USA some life but Finland was able to regain a four-goal cushion when Anton Lundell was able to beat Cooley a few minutes later.

Along with his pair of helpers, Määttä was a plus-two in his 20:19 of work.

Coronato, who was named the USA's player of the game, ended the day with a goal and two shots in his 15:21 of ice time while Cooley made 17 stops on 18 shots in his 38:03 of action. 

Finland is now first in Group A with a 3-0 record and nine points. They have outscored their opponents 13:4 thus far.

The USA is 1-2 through their opening trio of games, sitting fifth with 3 points in Group A. Cooley was in net for the Americans' lone victory, stopping 19 of 20 shots in their 5-1 win over Great Britain on Sunday.

Denmark 1, Canada 5

After a scoreless opening 40 minutes, the floodgates opened in the third period with five goals scored in 12 minutes and a late Canadian tally to make it a 5-1 game.

Porter Martone's tally came just 28 seconds into the period, with Gabiel Vilardi and Denton Mateychuk making it a 3-0 game by the 3:33 mark.

Denmark responded with a goal from Nick Olesen at 10:12 but Canada's Ryan O'Reilly made it 4-1 just over a minute later. Parker Wotherspoon added Canada's fifth goal at 19:31.

Danish netminder Nicolaj Henriksen stopped 33 of 38 shots while Canadian goaltender Jet Greaves made 15 saves.

Whitecloud, who was paired up alongside Darnell Nurse for a third straight game, logged 17:36 of ice time.

Canada is now 3-0 and sits atop Group B with 9 points. They have outscored their opponents 16:4 through three games.

The Flames will only have one player in action on Tuesday, with Martin Pospisil and undefeated Slovakia taking on Slovenia at 12:20 p.m. MT. Pospisil, who is wearing an A for the Slovaks, leads his country in scoring with three points through two games. Slovakia heads into Tuesday's match-up with a 2-0 record thanks to their victories over Norway and Italy.

Finland/USA photos courtesy of Andre Ringuette/IIHF