Finland’s dynamic Panthers duo helped their homeland sink Czechia to keep their gold medal hopes alive, while Matthew Tkachuk and the Americans exit early following a shutout loss to powerhouse Canada in Switzerland.
As the dust settles on the quarterfinal round of the 2026 IIHF World Championship, there are still a few Florida Panthers players whose respective nations remain alive.
We’ll start with Florida forwards Sasha Barkov, Anton Lundell and Team Finland.
Facing off against young Panthers defenseman Marek Alscher and Czechia, the Finns skated to a resounding 4-1 victory.
For Finland, Lundell scored the game winner, giving him four goals and six points through eight games, while Barkov added his seventh assist and ninth point of the tournament during the win.
The 22-year-old Alscher finishes the World Championship with a pair of goals and a wealth of experience gained ahead of his third pro season with the Panthers organization.
Thursday didn’t go as well for Matthew Tkachuk and Team USA as it did for the Finnish Cats.
The Americans lost 4-0 to Canada, ending their bid to win back-to-back World Championship gold medals.
Despite arriving to Switzerland late, Tkachuk played a major part in the U.S. rallying to reach the quarterfinals, contributing four goals and seven points on 21 shots in five games.
Also heading home is young Panthers forward Sandis Vilmanis following Latvia’s 2-0 loss to Norway in their quarterfinal matchup Thursday.
It’s a sad ending to the tournament for Vilmanis, who had one heck of a tournament for the Latvians.
In eight World Championship games, Vilmanis led Latvia with 11 points, adding four goals on 28 shots to go with a plus-7 on-ice rating.
He’ll certainly be in the running for a full-time NHL job next season.
Getting back to Barkov, Lundell and Team Finland, they’re back in action on Saturday when they face Canada in one of the two semifinal matchups.
First, Switzerland and Norway will lock horns in the first semifinal at 9:20 a.m. ET, then Finland will battle Canada at 2 p.m. ET, with both games taking place at Swiss Life Arena in Zurich.
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Photo caption: Feb 13, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team Finland forward Anton Lundell (15) looks on in warm-up before the game against Team USA during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre. (David Kirouac-Imagn Images)