Räty & Karlsson Score First Career Points At The Worlds: Canucks At The 2026 World Championship

The 2026 IIHF World Championship has officially begun, with all four participating members of the Vancouver Canucks taking part in the action on opening day. Three of the four Canucks who played today walked away with wins, while one surprising team lost their match. Here is a recap of the Canucks’ performances at the 2026 IIHF World Championship on May 15. 

Finland kicked off their tournament with a 3–1 win against Germany, with Canucks forward Aatu Räty scoring his first-career World Championship goal. In today’s effort, Finland also received goals from Puljujärvi and Anton Lundell, while Stefan Loibil found the scoresheet for Germany.  

After some changes to his team’s lineup, Räty started today’s game centering Finland’s third-line alongside Janne Kuokkanen and Jesse Puljujärvi. He finished the game with 14:07 minutes played and two shots on goal. Receiving a slick back-hand pass from Saku Mäenalanen, Räty also fired the puck past German goaltender Philipp Grubauer to increase his team’s lead to three. 

While Sweden kept things pretty close, even managing to close the gap on a 2–0 lead, it was Canada who skated away with the 5–3 win in today’s matchup. Jacob Larsson and Lucas Raymond evened up the game for Sweden during the second period, while Edmonton Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm tied things up at three goals apiece at the 35-minute mark. 

Despite spending the bulk of Sweden’s training camp alongside top prospects Ivar Stenberg and Viggo Björck, Canucks forward Linus Karlsson ended up on a line with New York Islanders forward Simon Holström and forward Jacob de la Rose today against Canada. He tallied his first World Championship assist by hanging onto the puck against pressure from Zach Whitecloud of Canada and sliding the puck over to Ekholm. 

In a surprising twist, Switzerland took the win against Team USA today, beating Max Sasson and his team by a score of 3–1. Switzerland got off to a surprising 2–0 lead during the first period, with former Canucks centre Pius Suter scoring the game-opening goal and assisting on the second. Alex Steeves scored the lone goal for the U.S. 

In today’s game, Sasson started as his team’s third-line centre, playing between Steeves and USA assistant captain Mathieu Olivier. While he didn’t end up on the scoresheet, Sasson was a big factor in his linemate’s goal, with the Canucks forward being the player to bring the puck into the zone and prevent Switzerland from regaining possession. He finished today’s game with 13:03 minutes played. 

Czechia kicked off their 2026 IIHF World Championship with a solid win, taking down Denmark by a score of 4–1. With goals from Dominik Kubalik, Daniel Voženílek, and Roman Červenka, Czechia managed to take a 3–0 lead before Denmark scored their first goal, courtesy of Mikkel Aagaard. Matěj Blümel added a fourth goal for Czechia on an empty net. 

Regarldess of the injury he sustained during the Fortuna Hockey Games, it appears Canucks’ Filip Hronek is continuing to reprise his role as a top-pairing defenceman. He skated on Czechia’s top-pairing with Michal Kempný in his first game of the tournament and led his team in ice time with 21:47 minutes played. 

Group A: 

Switzerland: 1–0–0–0

Finland: 1–0–0–0

USA: 0–0–0–1

Germany: 0–0–0–1

Latvia: 0–0–0–0

Austria: 0–0–0–0

Hungary: 0–0–0–0

Great Britain: 0–0–0–0

Group B: 

Czechia: 1–0–0–0

Canada: 1–0–0–0

Sweden: 0–0–0–1

Denmark: 0–0–0–1

Slovakia: 0–0–0–0

Norway: 0–0–0–0

Slovenia: 0–0–0–0

Italy: 0–0–0–0

Hungary vs. Finland - 7:20 am PT 

Slovenia vs. Czechia - 11:20 am PT 

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