The second day of the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Division I Group A in Sosnowiec saw Kazakhstan become the first and so far only team with two regulation victories. Meanwhile, Ukraine won for the first time, France and Poland went to a 10-round shootout, and Japan and Lithuania are both still searching for their first win but one of them will get it on Tuesday when they face each other.
Results of Day 2:
- Kazakhstan over Japan 6-0,
- Ukraine over Lithuania 2-1, and
- France over Poland 3-2 in a shootout.
Kazakhstan 6 – Japan 0 (0-0, 3-0, 3-0)
In their first game against Lithuania, Kazakhstan was held scoreless for two periods before taking control of the game with four goals in the third. Against Japan, they were only held off the board for one period before scoring three times each in the last two. Andrey Shutov made 16 saves for the shutout.
“After the first game, it’s a breath of fresh air to win with a lot less stress,” said Kazakh defenceman Dmitriy Breus.
“Today, I thought we had a better start than yesterday,” said Japanese forward Jordan Keller. “We’re struggling right now a little bit playing a full 60.”
About opening against France and Kazakhstan, Keller said, “It’s definitely a challenge, coming in here, we knew those teams were really strong. For us, we’re just trying our best out there. Now we’ve just gotta focus on the next game because it’s a quick turnaround, five games in seven days.”
Kazakhstan started the second period on the power play. Japan managed to kill it off, but the Kazakhs kept up the pressure and Dinmukhamed Kaiyrzhan opened the scoring at 22:11, taking a pass while all alone in front of the net and backhanding over a fallen Issa Otsuka.
Artur Gaityatov, who had two points against Lithuania, had three more points this game – all assists – and now leads the tournament in scoring with five points. In the 28th minute, Gaityatov, forced a turnover at his own blueline and started a 2-on-1 rush the other way. He then fed Angsar Shaikhmeddenov for the one-time shot and goal. Five minutes later, Gaityatov set up Breus’ shot from the point to make it 3-0.
“Recently, his team won the local championship in Kazakhstan, and players from that team (Nomad Astana) joined the national team, so he’s kept up that wave of winning,” Breus said of Gaityakov, 26, who is playing in his first World Championship at any level.
In the third period, Samat Daniyar’s flicker from the point on the power play and Roman Starchenko’s laser to the top corner, and Kirill Lyapunov rounded out the scoring.
Ukraine 2 – Lithuania 1 (1-0, 1-1, 0-0)
In a meeting between two teams that dropped their openers, Ukraine evened its record while Lithuania fell to 0-2.
“We gave it all,” said Lithuanian forward Emilijus Krakauskas. “We knew Ukraine is a tough opponent, big guys, so we just did our best and I think we showed it pretty well. Unfortunately, we couldn’t score another goal, but it was a good game from our side.”
Ukraine outshot Lithuania 12-3 in the opening frame, but the only goal came on the game’s first power play when captain Igor Merezhko’s quick shot went off the back crossbar and out.
Ukraine’s power play struck for the second time on its second attempt nearly halfway through the second period as Danil Trakht wired a shot under the crossbar, but Lithuania got one back a couple of minutes later when Paulius Rumsevicius’ shot hit a Ukrainian defender and Dovydas Jukna chipped the rebound over the shoulder of Bohdan Diachenko.
“I was really excited to see that puck go in,” said Jukna. “I was really happy and it helped give the team a boost of energy, but it wasn’t enough to win.”
Overall, Jukna thought, “It was a really good game from us but details matter … those penalties and the PK and everything.”
With five minutes to go in the middle frame, Ukraine very nearly restored its two-goal lead when Vitali Lialka faked a pass from behind the net and then attempted a wraparound goal in the other direction but, after a video review, it was determined that the puck did not fully cross the goal line.
With two minutes to play in regulation time, Laurynas Lubys made a blocker save off Yevgeni Fadyeyev to keep Lithuania within a goal. However, Ukraine was able to keep the puck in the Lithuanian zone the rest of the way to preserve the one-goal victory.
France 3 – Poland 2 (0-0, 1-2, 1-0, 0-0, )
In a matchup between two teams that won on Saturday, France defeated Poland 3-2 in a shootout, meaning France trails Kazakhstan by one point and leads Poland by one. The shootout lasted until the 10th round, when Tomas Simonsen finally ended it in France's favour.
“That was a pretty tough start for us but we found a way to win the game,” said captain Jordann Perret, who scored both of the team’s goals in regulation time and now leads the tournament with four. “We have a very good group, very good character, and we got two big points.”
Just 30 seconds into the game, Poland’s Kamil Walega was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for an illegal check to the head. The French had some good looks but were unable to cash in, and the Polish players got a huge ovation from their fans after killing it off. The Poles came up empty on a two-minute power play of their own and the first period ended scoreless.
“We started the game roughly, we took a five-minute major right off the hop, but as the game went we began to play them more evenly and in the end, it was just a battle of two great teams,” said Polish forward Krzysztof Macias. “It's a little disappointing that we got only one point, but I think it was a game that was fun to watch and it was definitely fun to play.”
Poland dominated the first half of the second period and opened the scoring on the power play at 23:22 on a great individual play by Patryk Krezolek, cutting in from the point and beating Quentin Papillon on a forehand deke. French captain Jordan Perret tied it with his third goal of the tournament, taking a pass from Louis Boudon and going upstairs. But Poland regained the lead with another power-play goal at 34:40 when Bartlomiej Pociecha blew a slapper from the point through everybody.
France tied the game on Perret’s second of the game early in the third period on a nice feed from behind the net by Simonsen, but despite three more power plays each way and numerous chances, there was no more scoring through the rest of regulation time or overtime.
France appeared to have won the game on a delayed penalty in overtime, but upon a challenge by Polish coach Pekka Tirkkonen, the goal was overturned for goaltender interference.
After a day off, all six teams are back in action on Tuesday:
12:30 – Lithuania vs Japan
16:00 – France vs Ukraine
19:30 – Kazakhstan vs Poland
All times listed in Central European Summer Time.