Slovakia powered past Denmark to reach the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship semi-finals.

A 7-1 margin, triggered by a scoring explosion in the first period, sends the host nation to the medal games for the fourth season in a row, with Latvia up next in Trencin on Friday afternoon.

Timothy Kazda, who had two goals in a four-point game to move top of the scoring chart with 10 (6+4) points, said: “It was awesome. We started off really good. The second period wasn’t great, but we finished it well.”

Jakub Floris, Ivan Matta, Tomas Selic and Kazda struck four goals in 146 seconds to blow the game apart. Denmark managed a consolation from Noah Hulsig on its first and only shot of the opening frame, but could do nothing to change the flow of the game.

Floris got things started on 6:51 after deceiving Thoke Heinsen to open a shooting lane. Next, Matta doubled the lead 58 seconds later when he collected the rebound from his own blocked shot and advanced to beat the exposed Anton Wilde.
 
Then it was three goals in 90 seconds. The first power play of the game lasted just eight seconds as Kazda and Matta delivered the puck to Tomas Selic for an angled shot past Wilde. In the words of the catchy Slovak goal horn, Cinge Linge Bom Bom BOM!

And add another bom for good measure. With Denmark still yet to manage a shot at Hrenak, Selic returned the favour to set up Kazda for 4-0. A goal explosion, four in 2:26, meant it was party time at the Pavol Demitra Stadium.

“It was nice to get the momentum off that first goal,” said Floris. “It set the tone for the game, it was our game from the beginning.”

There was one bum note in this Slovak hockey concerto. On 13:18, Noah Hulsig stole the puck in centre ice and skated away to beat Hrenak in a one-on-one.

But nothing was stopping Slovakia. Within a minute it was 5-1, Samuel Karsay potted a tap-in after a Lucian Bernat shot cannoned off the boards. Karsay’s first of the tourney added him to the Trencin honours board: after starting his career in nearby Dubnica, he joined the Dukla Trencin system in 2023.

In the second period, the tempo dropped a little. Denmark was able to generate some early offence, while Slovakia knew it had the game under control.

While the offence caught the eye, Floris was also pleased with how his defensive duties worked out.

“That’s how we want to play,” he said. “They had some chances but it was incredible how we defended the whole game.”

Meanwhile the home crowd kept up a raucous atmosphere throughout and had a sixth goal to cheer late in the frame when Simon Potocka shot through Wilde’s five-hole. That came shortly before the traditional tribute to Pavol Demitra in the 38th minute.

The scoring continued in the third. Kazda got his second goal, and fourth point, of the night to make it 7-1 after 43 minutes. 

Later, there was a rare chance for Denmark to test Hrenak when a broken play saw the puck fall to Emil Jakobsen with a clear sight of goal. The netminder kept that one out and Slovakia went on to neutralise the first Danish power play of the evening.

As the game entered the closing stages the home crowd was in full cry, roaring its heroes into the semi-finals and already starting to dream of a first Slovak medal at this tournament since 2003’s silver.