With the round-robin complete and players fresh off a day’s rest, it was time for the top four teams in each division to face off in the quarterfinals of the 2025 IIHF men’s World Championship.

Here’s how it all played out!

This wasn’t a good game to take penalties in. Both power plays capitalized on their opportunities and got off to fast starts.

In the first period, on an American power play, Conor Garland gave the United States the early lead as he wired a wrist shot past Juuse Saros on the rush. On a Finnish power play later in the period, a shot from Juho Lammikko was saved by Jeremy Swayman, but he couldn’t track the rebound through net-front traffic. Eeli Tolvanen found the puck and buried the equalizer.

Finland found themselves on another power play in the second period. After some sharp puck movement, Teuvo Teräväinen found Patrik Puistola in the slot, who beat Swayman top shelf to take the lead. At that point, momentum seemed to shift and the United States took control. Two late goals in the second—from Zeev Buium and Garland’s second of the game—put the Americans ahead heading into the final frame.

The United States carried that momentum into the third period and never let go. A goal from Shane Pinto extended the lead to two, and Clayton Keller capped it off with an empty-netter to seal the win and send the U.S. into the semifinals. The U.S. won 5-2.

This marks the end of the tournament for Finland. It was a solid showing from a Finnish squad playing without many of its top NHL talents such as Aleksander Barkov, Mikko Rantanen and Patrik Laine. Despite the loss, Finland only dropped one game in the round robin and beat Canada in a shootout—a campaign they can still be proud of.

Switzerland entered this game as heavy favourites. Austria had just squeaked into the quarterfinals after winning their final round-robin game against Latvia. Switzerland, meanwhile, rolled through nearly everyone, including an impressive 3-0 win over the United States.

As expected, this was a comfortable walk in the park for Switzerland. Christoph Bertschy opened the scoring as Austria couldn’t handle the puck on a dump-in. Timo Meier and Ken Jäger added goals minutes apart to make it 3-0. The Swiss scored as many goals in the first period as Austria had shots.

The second period brought more of the same. Two goals just 1:04 apart from Kevin Fiala and Sandro Schmid pushed the lead to five. A third-period marker from Simon Knak made it 6-0, and that’s where the scoring stopped.

Thirty-seven-year-old Leonardo Genoni was rarely tested in the Swiss net, making 13 saves for his third shutout of the tournament. He also picked up an assist.

With the win, Switzerland moves on to the semifinals as they look to keep rolling.

There’s a good chance most assumed Canada would walk away the winner here. But as sports often do, this game served a dose of humility.

Canada fired plenty of pucks at the net in the first two periods, which included five power plays, but couldn’t score. Danish goaltender Frederik Dichow played the game of his life, making 39 saves.

It wasn’t until the third period that the offence broke through. Travis Sanheim finally beat Dichow to give Canada the lead. Denmark pushed back hard, firing 22 shots in the third, but Jordan Binnington held strong.

With the net empty and just over two minutes remaining, Nikolaj Ehlers tied it with a point shot. Overtime seemed inevitable—until Denmark had other ideas. With 49 seconds left, Nicklas Jensen threw a puck to the front of the Canadian net, where Nick Olesen buried the go-ahead goal, shocking Canada and completing the upset. Denmark advanced to the semifinals, eliminating Canada by a 2-1 score.

MacKenzie Weegar had two of Canada’s 40 shots but didn’t hit the scoresheet. He finishes the tournament likely disappointed but with a respectable +8 rating—the highest among Canadian defencemen. He’ll now shift focus to Calgary and the upcoming NHL season, hoping to crack Canada’s Olympic roster.

After strong round-robins from both Sweden and Czechia, this matchup had the makings of a great game. Czechia arguably had the tougher challenge, having yet to face a team with Sweden’s depth.

The first period was all Sweden. Leo Carlsson tipped in a Rasmus Andersson point shot to make it 1-0. Then Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond scored two goals just 2:40 apart. Sweden led 3-0 after 20 minutes.

Czechia got one back early in the second when former Flame Roman Červenka scored on the power play. Later in the period, Carlsson netted his second after some slick passing in front of the net. Sweden led 4-1 after two.

Czechia struck again early in the third, this time through Michael Špaček, who buried a loose puck at the top of the crease. But that would be the final Czech goal of the game. Filip Forsberg added an empty-netter to secure the 5-2 win and a semifinal berth for Sweden.

Both Rasmus Andersson and Mikael Backlund recorded an assist and took minor penalties. Fortunately, those penalties didn’t impact the final result, and both Flames had solid performances.

With Czechia eliminated, the tournament ends for Dan Vladar and Adam Klapka. Vladar came in after Karel Vejmelka allowed three in the first. He gave Czechia a fighting chance, stopping 18 of 19 shots. Klapka, meanwhile, struggled—logging four shifts in the first period, finishing -2, and not seeing the ice again.

Overall, Vladar was outstanding this tournament, finishing with a .950 save percentage, 1.09 GAA and one shutout. Whether or not he returns to Calgary next season, he impressed while still officially a member of the Flames.

Klapka didn’t play the first two games but contributed once inserted, including a three-point outing against Kazakhstan. Despite the rough finish, the tournament should serve as a valuable experience heading into next season.

(All times MT.)

With Canada and Czechia now out, The only Flames to remain in the tournament are Swedish teammates Rasmus Andersson and Mikael Backlund. They’ll look to help Sweden reach the final on Saturday.