ZURICH, Switzerland – The U.S. Men’s National Team fell 3-1 to Switzerland in its first preliminary round contest of the 2026 IIHF Men’s World Championship at Swiss Life Arena.
“What a great atmosphere tonight and a lot of positive takeaways, competing for each other and playing as a team,” said Don Granato, head coach of the 2026 U.S. Men’s National Team. “Every game is a build and we can take a lot out of this game as we move forward.”
Switzerland’s Pius Suter opened the scoring 2:03 into the contest when, after a shot from Sven Andrighetto on the doorstep was deflected, he collected the loose puck just outside the crease and backhanded it across the goal line.
At 11:19 of the first period, Andrighetto gave Switzerland a 2-0 lead when he found the back of the net with a wrister from the left half-wall off a feed from Denis Malgin.
Matt Coronato (Greenlawn, N.Y./Calgary Flames) nearly brought the U.S. within a goal early in the middle stanza on a two-on-one chance but his shot was deflected by a pair of Swiss defenders.
At the 8:45 mark of the third, Alex Steeves (Eden Prairie, Minn./Boston Bruins) launched a shot from the slot that went wide left of the net, but the puck ricochetted off the boards back onto his blade and he capitalized with a quick shot from the left circle to make it a one-goal game. Ryan Lindgren (Minneapolis, Minn./Seattle Kraken) and Will Borgen (Moorhead, Minn./New York Rangers) tallied helpers on the play.
With 3:39 remaining in the contest, Switzerland took a 3-1 lead when a shot from the point by Simon Knak was deflected home by Ken Jager.
Joseph Woll (St. Louis, Mo./Toronto Maple Leafs) stopped 17 of the 20 shots he faced in goal for the U.S.
Team USA will be back in action Sunday (May 17), in its second preliminary round contest against Great Britain. Puck drop is set for 6:20 a.m. ET, and the game will be televised live on NHL Network.
NOTES: The U.S. and Switzerland each had 20 shots on goal … Both Team USA and Team Switzerland were both 0-1 on the power play … Justin Faulk (South St. Paul, Minn./Detroit Red Wings) was named U.S. Player of the Game.
