Czechia Cruise Past Denmark 4-1 in Group B Opener

Czechia opened the 2026 IIHF World Championship with a 4-1 win over Denmark at BCF Arena in Fribourg on Friday night, taking control early and never giving it back. A crowd of 6,551 watched the Czechs outshoot Denmark 29-20.

Dominik Kubalik got the scoring started at 8:50 of the first period, finishing a Jakub Flek feed past Mads Sogaard. Daniel Vozenilek made it 2-0 just over a minute later (10:00) from David Tomasek, and Czechia carried the two-goal lead into the locker room. The middle period was scoreless despite Denmark outshooting Czechia 11-7.

Roman Cervenka effectively put the game away at 3:32 of the third period, scoring from Matej Blumel and Tomasek to make it 3-0. Denmark pulled Sogaard for an extra attacker on a late power play and Mikkel Aagaard converted at 17:30, with Nick Olesen and Joachim Blichfeld assisting, to make it 3-1. The Danes pulled the goalie again, but Blumel sealed the win with an empty-netter at 19:08 from Lukas Sedlak and Cervenka.

Josef Korenar earned the win with 19 saves on 20 shots. Sogaard took the loss with 25 saves on 28, before being pulled for the late extra attacker.

Czechia return to BCF Arena on Sunday to face Slovakia. Denmark have the day off before meeting Sweden on Sunday.