Denmark's Alexander True scores on Kazakhstan's Maxim Pavlenko at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Herning, Denmark.
photo: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / MATT ZAMBONIN
At last, the host arrived at the party. Denmark snapped a three-game skid to beat Kazakhstan 5-1 and kick-start its 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship campaign.
Second period goals from MoDo clubmates Mikkel Aagaard and Alexander True broke the game open for the Danes. Nikita Mikhailis pulled one back for Kazakhstan early in the third, but Christian Wejse struck before True’s second took the game beyond reach. Nick Olesen wrapped it up with an empty-netter.
“We had some struggles in the first period,” admitted Danish forward Oscar Moelgaard. “We talked about it in the break. We had to minimize our mistakes and stop taking any stupid penalties.
“But once we started playing hockey and getting some long shifts in, then they had some trouble, and at last we got something out of it too. The power play came up big today as well. I think the team played great.”
This was a much-needed Danish victory. After Norway’s battling comeback against the USA, the Danes were the only team without a point in Group B. There’s no shame in dropping games to the USA, Germany and Czechia, but now the schedule presented Mikael Gath’s men with an opponent they were expected to beat.
“It’s all about confidence,” Moelgaard added. “We had some struggles scoring goals in the first couple of games. Definitely nice to get a couple of goals today. We had to get going and hopefully we can keep it going on Friday.”
Kazakhstan, meanwhile, had worries of its own. The bright start against Norway faded after losses to Germany and particularly Hungary. Victory tonight could revive a playoff dream; defeat would suck Oleg Bolyakin’s men back into the relegation battle.
The first period betrayed the uncertainty on both teams. Denmark, backed by another big crowd at the Jyske Bank Boxen, was unable to assert itself early in the game. The first penalties of the night went against the home team, and Kazakhstan briefly had a spell of five-on-three but could not press home the advantage.
Indeed, although Frederik Dichow was the busier of the netminders, the first really good opportunity for Kazakhstan had to wait until the 17th minute. Another power play enabled Roman Starchenko to dangle his way into the danger zone and set up Arkadi Shestakov. He fluffed his first shot but made a good contact at the second attempt, forcing Dichow into a big blocker save as Kirill Panyukov sought to obscure the goalie’s view.
“Power plays are one of the most important parts of the game,” said Kazakhstan’s defender Dmitriy Breus. “ If we can’t score on our power plays, then we can’t win. If we had scored in the first period, it would have been a different game. We would have had better motivation for the next periods.”
At the other end, Denmark only really extended Maxim Pavlenko once – but Joachim Blichfeld’s play midway through the frame was probably the best chance of the first period. He brought the puck from centre ice and got a good look at the Kazakh goalie but was unable to beat him. Later he showed great stick-handling to carve a path between two defenders, but Shestakov got back to prevent Aagaard from applying the finish.
However, early in the second, Blichfeld and Aagaard combined again to give the Danes their first lead of the tournament. The home team finally got some extended time on the attack and after another good save from Pavlenko, the second phase saw Blichfeld find his colleague between the hash marks. A shot on the half turn got over the goalie’s shoulder to give the home crowd something to celebrate at last.
And there was more to come: Denmark’s first power play of the night brought the team’s first power play goal of the tournament. It took just eight seconds to punish Kirill Panyukov’s interference minor: Patrick Russell got to the side of the net and fed the puck across the crease; True held off Alikhan Asetov at the back door to score.
“[True] was amazing,” said Wejse of his team-mate. “We all know how good of a player he is. Today he really showed up. He went in front of everybody with two important goals. He just played an amazing game today.”
Late in the second period, Kazakhstan began to press and that pressure continued at the start of the third. Reward came in the 47th minute when Roman Starchenko’s rush took him beyond the goal line. The puck seemed to get caught between the veteran’s skates but he recovered to lift it back to the doorstep for Mikhailis to bat it out of the air and into the net.
But the fightback was shortlived. Two goals in 20 seconds midway through the final frame sealed the deal for Denmark. Wejse struck on the PP, improving the Danes to 2-and-0 with a man advantage on the night. Then True got his second of the night to get the crowd on its feet.
“It was an important goal on the power play,” said Wejse of his marker. “Nicky [Olesen] just went in and took a shot, and I found the rebound. The first one, it hit the goalie. The second one went right to my stick. I had an almost empty net and put it in. It was an amazing feeling to turn the game around a little bit after their goal!”
Kazakhstan had a late power play, but was unable to reduce the deficit. Instead, a breakdown presented Olesen with a shot at the empty net to complete the home celebration.
The Danish win means it’s now incredibly tight at the foot of the Group B standings. Norway, on one point, is in eighth place. Then Denmark, Kazakhstan and Hungary are locked on three points as the preliminary round reaches its halfway mark.
Second period goals from MoDo clubmates Mikkel Aagaard and Alexander True broke the game open for the Danes. Nikita Mikhailis pulled one back for Kazakhstan early in the third, but Christian Wejse struck before True’s second took the game beyond reach. Nick Olesen wrapped it up with an empty-netter.
“We had some struggles in the first period,” admitted Danish forward Oscar Moelgaard. “We talked about it in the break. We had to minimize our mistakes and stop taking any stupid penalties.
“But once we started playing hockey and getting some long shifts in, then they had some trouble, and at last we got something out of it too. The power play came up big today as well. I think the team played great.”
This was a much-needed Danish victory. After Norway’s battling comeback against the USA, the Danes were the only team without a point in Group B. There’s no shame in dropping games to the USA, Germany and Czechia, but now the schedule presented Mikael Gath’s men with an opponent they were expected to beat.
“It’s all about confidence,” Moelgaard added. “We had some struggles scoring goals in the first couple of games. Definitely nice to get a couple of goals today. We had to get going and hopefully we can keep it going on Friday.”
Kazakhstan, meanwhile, had worries of its own. The bright start against Norway faded after losses to Germany and particularly Hungary. Victory tonight could revive a playoff dream; defeat would suck Oleg Bolyakin’s men back into the relegation battle.
The first period betrayed the uncertainty on both teams. Denmark, backed by another big crowd at the Jyske Bank Boxen, was unable to assert itself early in the game. The first penalties of the night went against the home team, and Kazakhstan briefly had a spell of five-on-three but could not press home the advantage.
Indeed, although Frederik Dichow was the busier of the netminders, the first really good opportunity for Kazakhstan had to wait until the 17th minute. Another power play enabled Roman Starchenko to dangle his way into the danger zone and set up Arkadi Shestakov. He fluffed his first shot but made a good contact at the second attempt, forcing Dichow into a big blocker save as Kirill Panyukov sought to obscure the goalie’s view.
“Power plays are one of the most important parts of the game,” said Kazakhstan’s defender Dmitriy Breus. “ If we can’t score on our power plays, then we can’t win. If we had scored in the first period, it would have been a different game. We would have had better motivation for the next periods.”
At the other end, Denmark only really extended Maxim Pavlenko once – but Joachim Blichfeld’s play midway through the frame was probably the best chance of the first period. He brought the puck from centre ice and got a good look at the Kazakh goalie but was unable to beat him. Later he showed great stick-handling to carve a path between two defenders, but Shestakov got back to prevent Aagaard from applying the finish.
However, early in the second, Blichfeld and Aagaard combined again to give the Danes their first lead of the tournament. The home team finally got some extended time on the attack and after another good save from Pavlenko, the second phase saw Blichfeld find his colleague between the hash marks. A shot on the half turn got over the goalie’s shoulder to give the home crowd something to celebrate at last.
And there was more to come: Denmark’s first power play of the night brought the team’s first power play goal of the tournament. It took just eight seconds to punish Kirill Panyukov’s interference minor: Patrick Russell got to the side of the net and fed the puck across the crease; True held off Alikhan Asetov at the back door to score.
“[True] was amazing,” said Wejse of his team-mate. “We all know how good of a player he is. Today he really showed up. He went in front of everybody with two important goals. He just played an amazing game today.”
Late in the second period, Kazakhstan began to press and that pressure continued at the start of the third. Reward came in the 47th minute when Roman Starchenko’s rush took him beyond the goal line. The puck seemed to get caught between the veteran’s skates but he recovered to lift it back to the doorstep for Mikhailis to bat it out of the air and into the net.
But the fightback was shortlived. Two goals in 20 seconds midway through the final frame sealed the deal for Denmark. Wejse struck on the PP, improving the Danes to 2-and-0 with a man advantage on the night. Then True got his second of the night to get the crowd on its feet.
“It was an important goal on the power play,” said Wejse of his marker. “Nicky [Olesen] just went in and took a shot, and I found the rebound. The first one, it hit the goalie. The second one went right to my stick. I had an almost empty net and put it in. It was an amazing feeling to turn the game around a little bit after their goal!”
Kazakhstan had a late power play, but was unable to reduce the deficit. Instead, a breakdown presented Olesen with a shot at the empty net to complete the home celebration.
The Danish win means it’s now incredibly tight at the foot of the Group B standings. Norway, on one point, is in eighth place. Then Denmark, Kazakhstan and Hungary are locked on three points as the preliminary round reaches its halfway mark.
Kazakhstan vs Denmark - 2025 IIHF WM
OF