Hischier Has Big Day at Worlds | WORLDS

From start to finish it was a busy day for Devils players at the World Championship in both Prague and Ostrava on Saturday. 

The Devils had five players dressed for their respective national teams and all posted victories on Saturday. 

Devils captain Nico Hischier, who had a three-point night for Switzerland, led the way to kick off the day. 

Check out below for all your recaps involving Devils players!

SWITZERLAND 8, DENMARK 0

SUI: Nico Hischier, Jonas Siegenthaler, Akira Schmid (DND)

Nico Hischier's marvelous run at the World Championship continued on Saturday morning. The Devils captain, and assistant captain of his Swiss national team, got the party started for Switzerland against Denmark, scoring the first of eight Swiss goals. Hischier, who opened the scoring, then added two more assists, contributing on three of Switzerland’s first four goals of the game.

Hischier is having a tournament to remember with his fifth goal and ninth point, which both equal his personal bests at the World Championship. The 25-year-old had nine points in eight games at the 2019 Worlds and had five goals in 2022, also in eight games played.

This year Hischier has five goals and four assists in five games played as he continues to impress.

Hischier is currently the leading scorer among all forwards participating at the tournament and is second in tournament scoring behind only his teammate Roman Josi’s 10 points.

Hischier played 15:17 on Saturday with four shots on goal and was a plus-2.

Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler was a plus-3 for Switzerland and along with his defensive partner Romain Loeffel, played the most minutes for Switzerland. Siegentahler came in at 18:04 while Loeffel played 18:34.

Switzerland sit second in Group A behind Czechia, who have played on more game than the Swiss.

CANADA 5, FINLAND 3

CAN: Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws (DND)

Canada came from down 2-0 against the defending champion Finnish team to earn an important 5-3 victory. The Canadians slowly chipped their way toward their fifth win at the 2024 Worlds. The score favored the Finns, 2-0, after just four minutes of play before Canada’s Dylan Cozens (BUF) opened the scoring for the Canadians. Cozen's goal was the first first-period goal Finland had surrendered all tournament.

Canada, in the final six minutes of the first, tied the game up at two after Brandon Tanev's (SEA) second of the tournament.

To open the second, Jesse Puljujarvi gave the Finns a 3-2 lead and less than a minute later, Canada's Owen Power (BUF) would tie the game up for a second time, leaving the two teams tied at threes heading into the final period.  

Brandon Hagel gave the Canadian squad the go-ahead goal with 8:28 remaining in the game before Devils forward Dawson Mercer added the empty-net goal, his second of the tournament with 21 seconds remaining in the game.

Mercer, had a goal and three shots in 11:19 of ice time and finished plus-1.

Nico Daws, who is Canada’s third goaltender at the tournament, did not dress.

Canada’s rallying efforts bring them to 14 out of a possible 15 points, and two games left in the preliminary round. Canada currently sit third in Group A. Their next two games are against Switzerland and Czechia, the two teams they are fighting with for the top seed in their group.

SLOVAKIA 4, FRANCE 2

SVK: Simon Nemec

Simon Nemec contributed a primary assist on Slovakia's second goal of their game against France to help his nation to a 4-2 victory. In front of a full house at Ostrava Arena, picked up the victory that was another step in securing a spot in the quarterfinals as the preliminary round begins to wind down.  Currently in third in Group B, a win on Sunday would earn them a spot in the quarterfinals next Thursday.

Against France, Nemec played 11:10, was plus-1, and had an assist. The Devils defenseman, who appeared in five WC games in 2023 without a single point, now leads all Slovak defensemen through five games with a goal and five assists (6 pts). His six points also tie a career-high at the tournament he set in 2022 (1g-5a, 8 GP).

CZECHIA 4, GREAT BRITAIN 1

CZE: Ondrej Palat

Ondrej Palat and Czechia have won their third straight game with a 4-1 victory of Great Britain and move into first place in Group A standings. The host team had an added boost with newcomer Martin Necas, who played on a line with Devils forward Ondrej Palat. Necas joined Czechia on Saturday just days after the Carolina Hurricanes were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The 38-year-old Czech captain Roman Cervenka led the way with four assists as the host nation defeated Great Britain to improve their record to 5-0-1. 

Devils Ondrej Palat did not factor in on the scoresheet but played 14:24 with four shots on goal.

Czechia took over first place in Group A with 15 points after six games, one ahead of Switzerland and Canada. The team could also have even more NHL reinforcements in time for their final game of the preliminary round, against Canada, with the possibility of both David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha joining the team after the Boston Bruins elimination on Friday.

UP NEXT: 

On Sunday Luke Hughes and Team USA play against Kazakstan at 10:20 a.m. ET, while it’s a Devils on Devils matchup at 2:20 p.m. as Hischier, Siegenthaler, Schmid and Switzerland take on Dawson Mercer, Nico Daws and Canada.

Also at 2:20 p.m. Nemec and Slovakia are up against Latvia.