Friday is the first day of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

All games on NHL Network in U.S., TSN in Canada

Day 1 games

Sweden 3, Slovakia 2 — Anton Frondell (Chicago Blackhawks) and Ivar Stenberg (2026 NHL Draft eligible) each had a goal and an assist for Sweden in its first game in Group A at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.

“We have the opportunity, we have everything to win,” Frondell said. “Sweden has just two gold medals and the last was 14 years ago so we have everything to win here.”

Victor Eklund (New York Islanders) scored and Love Harenstram (St. Louis Blues) made 23 saves for Sweden.

Stenberg, a projected top-five selection in the 2026 NHL Draft, finished a breakout with Eddie Genborg (Detroit Red Wings) at 16:03 of the third period for Sweden’s winning goal.

“It was a good pass from Genborg and a classic forehand-backhand move,” Stenberg said.

Tomas Pobezal (2026 draft eligible) and Tobias Tomik (2026 eligible) each scored and Alan Lendak (2026 draft eligible) made 29 saves for Slovakia.

Frondell gave Sweden a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal on a one-timer from the right face-off circle at 9:05 of the second period.

“It’s obviously a nice feeling when you see the puck goes into the net and it wasn’t the first shot for me, so it was relaxing to see it go in,” Frondell said.

Eklund made it 2-0 with another power-play goal on a shot from the slot off a pass from Frondell at 13:16 of the second.

Pobezal scored to pull Slovakia within 2-1 on a 5-on-3 power play with a wrist shot from the high slot at 19:55 of the second.

Sweden appeared to take a 3-1 lead 4:54 into the third period when Viggo Bjorck scored a short-handed goal, but Slovakia successfully challenged for goalie interference when Bjorck’s skate hit the glove of Lendak as he skated through the crease.

Tomik then pulled Slovakia into a 2-2 tie on a backhand attempt from the slot at 10:55 of the third period.

“We played a good game. We have to be better at the end,” Slovakia forward Adam Nemec said. “We need to get a minimum of one point (in these games). [Saturday] is next game and we’re gonna win.”

Sweden’s next game will be against Switzerland on Sunday (2 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN). Slovakia’s next game will be against Germany on Saturday (2 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN3).

Finland 6, Denmark 2 — Roope Vesterinen (2026 draft eligible) scored two goals, and Jasper Kuhta (2026 draft eligible) had three assists for Finland in the first Group B game at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.

Onni Kalto (2026 draft eligible), Oliver Suvanto (2026 draft eligible), Aatos Koivu (Montreal Canadiens) and Joona Saarelainen (Tampa Bay Lightning) also scored for Finland. Petteri Rimpinen (Los Angeles Kings) made eight saves.

William Bundgaard (2026 draft eligible) and Anton Linde (2026 draft eligible) scored for Denmark, which played its first game at the top level of World Juniors since 2019. Anton Emil Wilde Larsen (2026 draft eligible) made 37 saves.

Vesterinen gave Finland a 1-0 lead at 1:49 of the first period when he banged in his own rebound in front.

Kalto made it 2-0 at 2:19 when he drove through the center of the ice and tapped in a centering a pass by Max Westergard (Philadelphia Flyers).

Bundgaard got Denmark on the board when he scored off the rebound of Frederick Amondsen’s (2026 draft eligible) shot to make it 2-1 at 6:08.

Suvanto’s power-play goal from the slot put Finland ahead 3-1 at 10:07.

Koivu’s one-timer from between the hashmarks increased the lead to 4-1 at 4:45 of the second period.

Saarelainen scored a power-play goal off the rebound of a Lasse Boelius shot to make it 5-1 at 6:19.

Vesterinen scored his second when he tapped in a feed from Leo Tuuva to push it to 6-1 at 11:21.

Linde scored on the power play at 2:22 of the third period for the 6-2 final.

Denmark next plays Czechia on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN ). Finland plays Latvia on Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).

On tap

All games on NHL Network in U.S., TSN in Canada

Germany vs. United States (6 p.m. ET) — The U.S. three-peat quest starts with its Group A opener against Germany, which the U.S. beat 10-4 in the opener of the 2025 WJC. Three of the seven goal-scorers from that game will be back, topped by forward James Hagens (Boston Bruins), who tied for the team lead with five goals in seven games. Also returning is Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals), who had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in seven games to become the first defenseman ever to outright lead the tournament in scoring. Germany defeated Kazakhstan in the relegation game and will return two of its top forwards from the 2025 WJC in David Lewandowski (Edmonton Oilers) and Maxim Schafer (Washington Capitals), who tied for the team lead with two goals each. Also back is goalie Linus Vieillard (2026 draft eligible), who had a .915 save percentage in four games.