Canada 9, Denmark 1: Gavin McKenna, the favorite to be the No. 1 pick of the 2026 NHL Draft, had a hat trick for Canada, which stayed undefeated in Group B play at 3M Arena at Mariucci on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
McKenna is the first Canada player with a hat trick since Connor Bedard and Dylan Guenther each had one against Germany in a preliminary round game at the 2023 World Juniors in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
“Obviously, that’s something you dream of as a kid,” McKenna said of scoring hat trick on a national stage. “Felt pretty good, and it was a lot of fun.”
Porter Martone (Philadelphia Flyers) had two goals and an assist for Canada (2-1-0-0). Michael Misa (San Jose Sharks) had a goal and two assists, Zayne Parekh (Calgary Flames) and Kashawn Aitcheson (New York Islanders) each had a goal and an assist, and Brady Martin (Nashville Predators) had three assists. Carter George (Los Angeles Kings) made 12 saves.
Canada had 15 of its 20 skaters get at least a point, with nine having at least two.
“I think a lot of people were maybe snakebit a bit on our team,” Martone said. “So, that’s good to get the offense rolling going into the New Year’s Eve game.”
Mads Klyvo (Florida Panthers) scored for Denmark (0-0-0-3). Patrick Tiedjen (2026 eligible) made 40 saves.
“It’s not fun losing, but they experience this and they take it forward to see how good you can be if you do the right things every day. So, I think that’s the most important thing for our guys,” Denmark assistant coach Mikkel Boedker said. “Obviously, the loss is never fun, but that’s the way it is when you play a really good team.”
McKenna put Canada up 1-0 at 3:17 of the first period with a power-play goal from the right face-off circle.
Braeden Cootes (Vancouver Canucks) made it 2-0 at 8:36 when he scored off a spinning backhand pass off the boards by Tij Iginla (Utah Mammoth).
Parekh scored his third goal in three games with a shot from the top of the circles to make it 3-0 at 10:03.
Klyvo scored 28 seconds into the second period, scoring from along the goal line to cut it to 3-1 after Canada gave it away in its defensive zone.
Martone scored a power-play goal from the left face-off circle to make it 4-1 at 6:11.
McKenna scored his second goal of the night from the right face-off circle after receiving a seam pass by Martin to give Canada a 5-1 lead at 15:03.
“You see it all tournament long with the things he’s doing,” Martone said of McKenna. “And I don’t think there should be any question that he’s not the No. 1 pick. He’s so skilled with the puck, and he’s a tremendous hockey player.”
Misa scored after Martone passed from behind the net to make it 6-1 at 4:41 of the third period.
McKenna completed his hat trick after Michael Hage (Montreal Canadiens) found him behind the Denmark defense. The Penn State freshman cut to the net, deked around Tiedjen’s left pad and tucked the puck into the net to make it 7-1 at 5:45.
“I think the goalie played it pretty well,” McKenna said. “He kind of didn’t give me much, so thought I’d put it around him and tuck it home.”
McKenna, who is from Whitehorse, Yukon, notched the hat trick with his family in the crowd supporting.
“Yeah, it was pretty cool. To do it in front of my family, too, they don’t get to watch me a whole lot in person,” McKenna said. “So for them to be here in the building, that was pretty cool.”
Aitcheson scored from the top of the circles at 14:16 to make it 8-1, and Martone scored from along the goal line to put Canada ahead 9-1 just 24 seconds later at 14:40.
Denmark will play its final game of the preliminary round against Latvia on Tuesday (4:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN). Canada will play against Finland on Wednesday (8:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
United States 6, Slovakia 5: James Hagens (Boston Bruins) scored two goals for the United States, who remained undefeated in Group A at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The United States scored twice in the opening 4:34 of the third period to take its first lead.
Hagens made it 5-4 on a snap shot from the left hash marks 18 seconds into the third period, and Will Zellers (Bruins) scored a power-play goal at the right post to make it 6-4 at 4:34.
“I mean, that’s a good team over there, but we knew we were better. I feel like we gave them a lot of the chances that they got off turnovers, some unlucky penalties,” Zellers said. “When me, [Hagens] and [Brodie Ziemer] got out there first shift (of the third period), our mindset was just getting it deep, getting it behind them, and just having a junkyard shift. Get it low to high and just get a greasy one there. So, that was kind of our mindset the whole time. We just stuck to our plan. They’re not all going to be pretty, so you just make sure that you find a way.”
Zellers has a team-leading four goals in three games for the United States.
“I think it’s just hanging around that net. I mean, if you’re not scoring, just go to the net,” Zellers said. “You’ll find a way to get one off your skate, off your shoulder. So, just happy that that one went in.”
Zellers, A.J. Spellacy (Chicago Blackhawks) and Brendan McMorrow (Los Angeles Kings) each had a goal and an assist, and Caleb Heil made 14 saves in his second start for the United States (3-0-0-0).
Tomas Chrenko (2026 eligible) scored two goals, Andreas Straka (2026 eligible) had two assists, and Michal Pradel made 25 saves for Slovakia (1-0-0-2).
Tobias Pitka (2026 eligible), Slovakia’s captain, gave his country a 1-0 lead at 8:53 of the first period on a wrist shot from the slot.
Chrenko pushed it to 2-0 with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle through a screen at 11:15.
Spellacy cut it to 2-1 with a short-handed goal after skating down the slot at 1:50 of the second period.
Adam Belusko gave Slovakia a 3-1 lead with his own short-handed goal at 6:46, scoring with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.
McMorrow made it 3-2 on a shot at the right post at 8:33.
Ryker Lee (Nashville Predators) tied it 3-3 with a power-play goal at 11:00, burying a shot from the bottom of the left circle.
“I think I got the puck there and (forward) L.J. Mooney (Montreal Canadiens) did a great job drawing guys in and freezing guys, and it opened a lot of space for me,” Lee said. “So, I had time to look and I saw the goalie kind of move a little bit off his post, and I just threw it up there and it went in. It was awesome.”
Slovakia regained the lead, 4-3, when Michal Svrcek (Detroit Red Wings) scored a power-play goal on a scramble in the slot at 14:44.
Hagens scored his first goal of the tournament at 19:15, tying it 4-4 with a snap shot from the high slot.
“We were a little bit scared after the goal, and they were pushing us and it was hard game for both teams, I think,” Chrenko said.
After the United States extended its lead to 6-4, Chrenko scored during a 6-on-5 advantage with Pradel pulled for an extra attacker with 1:54 remaining in the third period.
“I loved the resiliency,” United States coach Bob Motzko said. “… We’re down bodies, and Chase Reid (2026 eligible) played (19:58) tonight. I can tell you, players are playing more minutes than if we wouldn’t have had the injuries, and that’s what you have to have in this tournament. You have to have certain players like Ziemer, Hagens, Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals) be your guys, but other guys have to grow in the tournament, and we think that that’s what’s happening.”
The United States was without Hutson, who was removed from the ice on a stretcher during a 2-1 win against Switzerland on Saturday after he was hit in the back of the head by a puck. The defenseman, who was hospitalized briefly but rejoined the team, remains day to day. Dakoda Rheaume-Mullen (2026 eligible), a healthy scratch on Saturday, returned to the lineup in his absence.
U.S. forward Max Plante (Detroit Red Wings) missed the third period with an undisclosed injury. Motzko did not have an update after the game.
Slovakia will conclude its preliminary round schedule against Switzerland on Wednesday (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN). The U.S. will finish its preliminary round against Sweden in a battle of undefeated teams on Wednesday (6 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
Czechia 2, Finland 1 (OT): Adam Jiricek (St. Louis Blues) scored with 1:21 remaining in overtime in a Group B game at 3M Arena at Mariucci on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
After Jiricek got lost in the offensive zone, Petr Sikora (Washington Capitals) found him alone in front, and Jiricek dropped the puck between his skates and scored under the crossbar.
“Just gold hands,” Czechia coach Patrik Augusta said. “He showed confidence and really good skills. A great pass by Sikora also to find him there.”
Matej Kubiesa (2026 eligible) also scored for Czechia (1-1-0-1). Michael Orsulak (2026 eligible) made 22 saves.
Emil Hemming (Dallas Stars) scored for Finland (2-0-1-0). Petteri Rimpinen (Los Angeles Kings) made 23 saves.
“I thought we would have done a better job in the second, but we’re not able to get our engine going there,” Finland captain Aron Kiviharju said. “But I really liked our way we did our things in the third. I think we earned that goal that we got, and then obviously, OT we had our chances, but obviously a bad ending for us.”
Kubiesa put Czechia ahead 1-0 at 1:52 with a power-play goal. Kubiesa started the breakout, getting the puck up the ice to Vojtech Cihar (Los Angeles Kings), who entered Finland’s zone on the left side. Cihar then dropped a pass for Tomas Galvas (2026 eligible), who cut to the middle of the zone before leaving the puck for Kubiesa, who scored from the top of the left face-off circle.
Hemming tied the game 1-1 at 19:40 of the third period. With Rimpinen out for an extra attacker, Leo Tuuva (2026 eligible) passed the puck from behind the net to Hemming, who scored on a one-timer from in front.
“I just tried to pick up the mood a little bit. It’s a hit when you get scored on like that, but that’s what I really like on our team, that they were out there and they wanted to win it,” Augusta said when asked about his message after Finland tied it. “I just told them, don’t feel sorry for yourself. That’s hockey, those things happen, and just let’s go out there and win the game. And they were good enough to do it.”
Each team next plays on Wednesday, with Czechia facing Latvia (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN) and Finland playing Canada (8:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).
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