By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
Group play at the 2026 World Championships has officially wrapped, and the bracket is set for the knockout stage. The back half of the preliminary round had several Boston Bruins embedded in the storylines, storming their way to qualification, fighting to stay alive, or just fighting to stay in the lineup. Here’s how they all played out:
Team Finland – Henri Jokiharju erupted for the Finns in the back half of their group stage campaign, recording seven points (2-5-7) in four games to help them comfortably clinch second place in Group A. He factored into at least one goal in all four games, and finished the group stage tied for the team lead with eight points, alongside Jesse Puljujarvi and Aleksander Barkov. He is also tied with Roman Josi and Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the tournament scoring lead among defensemen. Joonas Korpisalo made one additional start in the group stage, turning aside all nine shots against Great Britain in a 4-0 win.
Lukas Reichel – Germany – Reichel stepped up in a big way for a Germany squad that went from winless in their first four games to missing the knockout stage by just a point. He recorded seven points, including a hat trick, as the Germans scored six goals in three straight wins to close the gap, ultimately falling short of the last spot due to their overtime loss against Team USA. Reichel finished second on the German national team with 4-4-8 and a +2 rating in seven games.
Team USA – The addition of Matthew Tkachuk to the Team USA lineup sparked them enough to qualify for the knockout stage with 11 points, and it also shuffled the lineup enough that the three Bruins played on the same unit down the stretch. After being scratched for the overtime win against Germany, James Hagens returned to the lineup as the second-line center and recorded an assist in the 7-3 win over Hungary. Alex Steeves tacked on a pair of assists to finish the group stage with 1-2-3, while Mason Lohrei was held off the scoresheet and moved to the second defensive pair with Will Borgen.
Fraser Minten – Canada – Minten added an assist on Canada’s opening goal in a 3-1 win over Slovenia, his fourth point in four games, but has not found the scoresheet since then as the Canadians cruised to first place in Group B. He wrapped up his group stage with 2-2-4 and a +2 rating, winning 34/64 (53%) of his faceoffs.
Matej Blumel – Czechia – Blumel cooled off after an early hot streak, where he had three points in his first three games. He finished the group stage with 2-2-4, adding an assist on the game-tying third-period goal against Italy, and in a six-way tie for second on Czechia in scoring, and his +3 rating gave way to a -2.
Looking Ahead: Bruins players will feature on four of the eight quarterfinal teams, and they will all be playing each other on Thursday. Minten will face off against Steeves, Hagens, and Lohrei as Canada and the USA will reignite their rivalry on the international stage, while Jokiharju and Korpisalo will face Matej Blumel and Czechia. The winning teams will face each other in the semifinal, guaranteeing that at least one Boston Bruin will partake in the gold medal game at the end of the month.
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