Tuesday was the final day of the preliminary round of the 2026 IIHF World Championships. There were four Edmonton Oilers in action, with two of them needing to win in regulation to guarantee a spot in the playoff round.

Let’s see how those three games went, as well as look at the playoff matchups once that begins on Thursday.

USA victorious in must-win

The pathway to the playoff round for the Americans was simple: Win in regulation, and they make the playoffs. They did just that, defeating Austria 4-1.

Just over five and a half into the game, Connor Clifton got the USA on the board. Less than a minute later, Ryan Ufko gave them a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Moving to the second period, the Americans continued to score, as Paul Cotter extended their lead to 3-0. Matthew Tkachuk gave them a four-goal lead midway through the second period.

With under four to play in the second, Austria’s Simeon Schwinger got them on the board, but it was far too little, far too late, as there was no more scoring after that.

It was another pointless game for the Oiler involved in this one, Isaac Howard. In about 14 minutes of play, the winger fired three shots on goal and finished as a plus-1, but also took a hooking penalty toward the end of the first period. In seven preliminary games, Howard scored three goals and four points, going plus-1.

Sweden survives

Like the Americans, the Swedes needed to beat Slovakia in regulation to head to the playoff round. They did that thanks to a 4-2 victory, leapfrogging the Eastern European team and finishing fourth in Group B.

Things didn’t start off great for the Swedes, though, as Slovakian forward Martin Chromiak opened the scoring. But with four to play in the opening frame, Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm picked up an assist on Anton Frondell’s goal, sending the teams into the first intermission tied 1-1.

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Frondell gets one back and ties the game at one! #MensWorlds

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2:50 PM · May 26, 2026

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About three minutes into the third period, Jakob Silfverberg gave Sweden a 2-1 lead, then midway through the period, top draft prospect Ivar Stenberg extended Sweden’s lead to two.

Marek Hrivík got one back for the Slovaks before the end of the second, setting up an exciting period.

The Slovaks were unable to find the game-tying goal, and with their goaltender pulled, Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored an empty net goal to send the Swedes to the playoff round.

Ekholm played the second-most minutes in the game, a little over 25 minutes of action. Only fellow Swede, Albert Johansson, played more, by just 22 seconds. On top of an assist, Ekholm fired four shots on goal, a team high, and was also a plus-2. He finished with three goals and five points in the preliminary phase of the tournament.

Canada finish 6-1 in preliminary

With Czechia’s loss to Norway on Monday, Canada had already earned first in Group B, but they still had another game to play. They finished the preliminary phase of the tournament undefeated (6-1-0-0) thanks to a 3-2 victory over Czechia on Tuesday.

It was actually Czechia who jumped out to a lead, as Marek Alscher opened the scoring six minutes into the period. Then just over eight minutes into the second period, Dominik Kubalik made it 2-0. But then Canada woke up.

With six to play in the first, captain Macklin Celebrini got Canada on the board, giving Czechia a 2-1 lead heading into the third. He scored his second of the game just over seven minutes into the third, tying it at two, before John Tavares scored just over two minutes later, with Evan Bouchard picking up the helper.

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TEAM CANADA HAS THE LEAD! 🇨🇦⚡ John Tavares scores in the third to put the Canadians ahead. #MensWorlds

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8:23 PM · May 26, 2026

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To the surprise of no one, Bouchard played a team-high 24 minutes of ice time, firing two shots on goal. On top of his assist, he finished as a plus-3 for a plus-14 in the preliminary round. Over seven games, he scored one goal and six points.

Darnell Nurse played a little over 19 minutes of ice time, finishing as a minus-2 with no shots on goal. It was probably his worst game of the tournament.

Setting up the playoffs

The Canadians knew that they were going to play the fourth-placed team in Group A no matter the results against Czechia. But with Latvia defeating Hungary 8-1, it sets up an Olympic gold medal rematch between Canada and the USA.

Since Latvia won, Josh Samanski’s tournament with Germany has come to an unfortunate end, as they finished fifth in Group B with 10 points. They were oh-so-close to defeating the Americans in their matchup last week, and had they pulled off that victory, even in a shootout, they’d be the team in the playoff round.

Ekholm’s Sweden also made the playoff round, finishing fourth in Group B. Well, they’ll play the lone perfect team in the tournament, the host Switzerland. The Swiss won all seven of their games in regulation and outscored the opposition 39-7. That includes a victory over Finland on Tuesday to win Group A. The Swiss look like the tournament favourite.

There’ll be no games on Wednesday, but the quarter-finals kick off on Thursday.