Two Bruins Notch Assists in Day 12 of Worlds, Team USA Clinches Spot in Quarterfinals
The final day of the preliminary round for the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship took place on Tuesday.
The two early morning games saw Team Hungary take on Team Latvia in Group A and Team Norway square off against Team Denmark in Group B. In the games, Team Latvia defeated Team Hungary 8-1 and Team Norway topped Team Denmark 4-3 in overtime.
During the second group of games, Team USA played against Team Austria in Group A and Team Sweden played Team Slovakia in Group B.
Team USA defeated Team Austria 4-1. In the victory for the United States, Bruins forward Alex Steeves recorded an assist on a first period goal by defenseman Connor Clifton at 5:34.
Clifton is a former Bruin (2017-23) and currently plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He saw time in both Providence and Boston.
Current Bruins forward James Hagens and defenseman Mason Lohrei also skated for Team USA, but did not record a stat. Hagens was on the ice for 14:41 and Lohrei for 14:52.
With the win, Team USA clinched a spot in the quarterfinals and will take on Team Canada on Thursday.
In the other game, Team Sweden picked up a 4-2 win over Team Slovakia.
The final two games of the day featured Team Switzerland against Team Finland in Group A and Team Czechia versus Team Canada in Group B. Team Switzerland earned a 4-2 win over Team Finland and Team Canada defeated Team Czechia 3-2.
Bruins defenseman Henri Jokiharju plays on Team Finland and tallied two assists in the loss which both came on second period goals by forward Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers) at 12:48 and 15:18.
Bruins goalie Joonas Korpisalo is also on Team Finland, but did not play in Tuesday’s contest.
Bruins forwards Fraser Minten (Team Canada) and Matěj Blümel (Team Czechia) both played in the game, but neither recorded a stat.
The tournament will take a day off on Wednesday and start back up for the quarterfinals on Thursday, followed by the semifinals on Saturday, and the bronze and gold medal games on Sunday.
The quarterfinals slate on Thursday includes Team Finland vs. Czechia, Team USA vs. Team Canada, Team Switzerland vs. Team Sweden, and Team Norway vs. Team Latvia.
In the standings, Switzerland leads Group A with 21 points while Canada leads Group B with 20 points.
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Kim Rankin is one of the lead writers for Boston Bruins on SI and Boston College On SI. A 2020 graduate of the University of Alabama. she joined Alabama Crimson Tide On SI in February 2024 covering baseball, softball, football, men’s basketball, and more for BamaCentral, but has also contributed to Missouri Tigers On SI. She previously worked as the brand manager at Tide 100.9 FM in Tuscaloosa, Ala. She has covered a wide variety of events including SEC Championships, NCAA Regionals, and bowl games.