🇨🇭 Switzerland 3-1 United States 🇺🇸
World Championship Preliminary Round
Swiss Life Arena, Zürich 🇨🇭
Friday, 15 May 2026

The hosts of the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship got off to a great start in Zürich. Switzerland beat the US 3-1.

Pius Suter and Sven Andrighetto scored one goal each and picked up assists on each other’s goals, while Leonardo Genoni made 16 saves for Switzerland. Alex Steeves scored the U.S. lone goal.

“It was a great effort from our team. We wanted to start with a good representation for our country, the tournament, and I think we managed it pretty well,” said Swiss forward Christoph Bertschy.

“It was a really good test for us to get the win, but it’s a long tournament. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” added Swiss captain Roman Josi.

What better way to kick off the tournament in Switzerland than with a rematch of the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship final between Switzerland and the U.S.?

The early shifts promised an entertaining game, especially when Suter gave the hosts a 1–0 lead just 2:05 into the first period. He backhanded an Andrighetto rebound home from the middle of a scrum in front of the U.S. net.

Less than ten minutes later, the same duo struck again when Suter found Andrighetto flying down the left wing. The 2025 IIHF Male Player of the Year beat Joseph Woll with a laser from the left circle that found its way through the U.S.’ goalie’s five-hole to make it 2–0 at 11:19.

Both teams also emphasized the importance of defence and avoiding mistakes. Switzerland outshot the U.S. 20019 in the game.

“It was mostly one and done. They get the puck, get it out, tape to tape. It was hard,” Plante added.

The Americans pushed back in the second half of the opening period and continued their pressure throughout the second, in which they out-shot Switzerland 7–3. Genoni made several excellent saves, and whatever he couldn’t stop, the hockey gods did — like when Matt Coronato pushed the puck wide of an empty net.

“I thought as the game went on, we got better. Started to tilt the ice a little bit more, just couldn’t find the back of the net,” said Team USA’s Max Plante.

The U.S. carried the momentum into the third period, but the Swiss raised their game. An early power play helped them settle things down, and just as the Americans had killed the penalty, a scoring chance came out of nowhere.

Will Borgen’s wrist shot from the point was blocked by a Swiss forward, but the puck landed on Steeves’s stick. His shot sent another Swiss player’s stick flying through the air, and in the confusion, Steeves roofed his own rebound to make it a one-goal game at 8:45.

“Even after they scored their goal, we didn’t panic. We stayed in our structure,” noted Bertschy.

Switzerland got the buffer they wanted with 3:39 remaining when Ken Jäger redirected Simon Knak’s point shot through Woll’s five-hole.

“It was a lot of fun out there. Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but it was really cool to see how loud it can get in this barn,” Plante said.

It was even more fun for the Swiss.

“It’s amazing. Of course, you love to hear your own fans cheering you on all game long. So we for sure were able to feed off that and get our game going,” Calvin Thurkauf said.

Switzerland will take on Latvia tomorrow.

“They’re a good team. They play hard. We’ve just got to improve. We’ve got to play better than today. That’s our mindset and we’re not going to take any team lightly,” “​Nico Hischier said.

BOXSCORE
1st Period
02:03 – 🇨🇭 GOAL – Suter (Andrighetto, Moser)
11:19 – 🇨🇭 GOAL – Andrighetto (Malgin, Suter)
17:56 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Lafferty, roughing
17:56 – 🇨🇭 PEN – Niederreiter, roughing

2nd Period
24:25 – 🇨🇭 PEN – Josi, tripping

3rd Period
44:03 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Lindgren, cross checking
48:45 – 🇺🇸 GOAL – Steeves (Borgen, Lindgren)
56:21 – 🇨🇭 GOAL – Jäger (Knak, Kukan)
59:26 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Hagens, roughing
59:26 – 🇨🇭 PEN – Malgin, roughing
60:00 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Leonard, roughing / unsportsmanlike conduct double minor
60:00 – 🇨🇭 PEN – Aeschlimann, roughing
60:00 – 🇺🇸 PEN – Coronato, roughing
60:00 – 🇨🇭 PEN – Riat, roughing

GOALTENDERS
W: 🇨🇭 Genoni (19-20)
L: 🇺🇸 Woll (16-19)

SHOTS ON GOAL
🇨🇭 9+3+7 = 19
🇺🇸 5+4+11 = 20

ROSTERS
🇨🇭 Goaltenders: Sandro Aeschlimann, Leonardo Genoni. Defence: Tim Berni, Dominik Egli, Roman Josi (C), Sven Jung, Dean Kukan, Christian Marti, Janis Moser (A). Forwards: Sven Andrighetto, Christoph Bertschy, Attilio Biasca, Nico Hischier, Ken Jäger, Simon Knak, Denis Malgin, Timo Meier, Nino Niederreiter (A), Damien Riat, Théo Rochette, Pius Suter, Calvin Thürkauf.
🇺🇸 Goaltenders: Devin Cooley, Joseph Woll. Defence: Will Borgen, Connor Clifton, Justin Faulk (C), Wyatt Kaiser, Ryan Lindgren (A), Mason Lohrei, Ryan Ufko. Forwards: Matt Coronato, Paul Cotter, James Hagens, Isaac Howard, Sam Lafferty, Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore, Danny Nelson, Tommy Novak, Mathieu Olivier (A), Max Plante, Max Sasson, Alex Steeves.

Article Credit: IIHF Worlds 2026
Photo Credit: IIHF Worlds 2026 – IIHF – HHOF – IOC