Devils at the World Championship: Nico Hischier Dominating; Devils Making an Impact

The medal rounds are quickly approaching at this year’s World Championship, and there may be a Devil who brings home gold. With just a week to go, all eyes are on the young Devils stars. Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and specifically Nico Hischier have greatly impacted their country at this tournament.

If you haven’t been following, Devils players have been shining for their countries at the World Championship in Czechia. Over the weekend that dominance continued as all the big stars were in action.

Team Switzerland

The Swiss kicked off the weekend with an 8-0 thrashing against Team Denmark. Once again, Nico Hischier had his fingerprints all over the win, scoring the opening goal and adding two more assists. Hischier continues to be the catalyst for Team Switzerland’s success along with teammate Roman Josi, as the two of them sit in the top three in scoring for the tournament. Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler also added an assist on the Swiss’s eighth and final goal of the game.

Hischier and company found themselves in a much tougher battle the next day as they took on Team Canada. A tight-checking and chippy affair saw Canada win it 3-2. However, Hischier added yet another assist to bring him up to five goals and five assists. Siegenthaler was held pointless and Akira Schmid did not appear in either game.

Nico Hischier, Kevin Fiala and Roman Josi strike again.💥 Switzerland opens the scoring early. 1-0.🇨🇭#MensWorlds #DENSUI @SwissIceHockey @NJDevils pic.twitter.com/2IpGuf7keR

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 18, 2024

Team U.S.A

The U.S. had just one game over the weekend but scored enough goals to last them a few games. They handily took down Kazakhstan 10-1, in a game that saw 12 different American players record a point. Surprisingly, Luke Hughes only managed a single assist but did play 19:49 of ice time, second most on the team. Hughes is now up to five points in six games on a U.S. team that has started to find its groove in this tournament.

Team Canada

Dawson Mercer and Team Canada were in action twice this weekend. Before he met up with his captain, Nico Hischier, Mercer faced off against Team Finland, winning 5-3. Mercer added his second goal of the tournament, again via an empty net, to seal the victory.

In that physical 3-2 Canadian win over the Swiss, Mercer was held off the scoresheet in 11:18 of ice time. In addition, Nico Daws dressed but did not play, backing up starter Jordan Binnington. The Canadians remain undefeated at the tournament.

Dawson Mercer has his second empty-netter of the #MensWorlds just as Sateri got to the bench. Canada leads 5-3 late. #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/wB5yeebxao

— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) May 18, 2024

Team Slovakia

Coming off of a fantastic past few weeks, Simon Nemec’s weekend was slightly less eventful. Slovakia’s first game of the weekend came by way of a 4-2 win over Team France where Nemec registered an assist in just 16 minutes of ice time.

The following day Slovakia suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Latvia, falling 3-2 in the shootout. Nemec was held off the scoresheet altogether in 21:41 of ice time.

Team Czechia

Ondrej Palat and host nation Czechia played just one game this weekend, a 4-1 win over Great Britain. Unfortunately, Palat failed to make much of an impact, going pointless in just 14:24 of ice time. The Czechs have a massive final game against Team Canada that will determine the seeding at the top of their group.

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