Sven Andrighetto scored four goals in a row to power Switzerland to victory over Germany. The Germans lose their perfect record at the 2025 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship as the Swiss climb to the summit on Group B – at least until Czechia plays Hungary this evening.

"I haven’t seen too many times a guy scores four goals at the World Championship!" said Swiss legend Andres Ambuhl, the all-time games played leader in tournament history. "It was huge for us. We’re happy for him and for us too."

Andrighetto, 32, fresh from a triumphant season with Zurich Lions, potted a natural hat-trick in the second period after Damien Riat opened the scoring in Herning early in the middle frame.



Then he scored his fourth, and Switzerland’s fifth in the 49th minute. Denis Malgin assisted on all four of Andrighetto’s goals. Only Eric Lindros, with five in Canada’s 11-2 thrashing of Italy in 1993, has scored more in a game in the open era.

Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni followed up his shut-out against the USA with a further 58:35 minutes of unbeaten hockey before a power play goal from Marc Michaelis brought Germany some consolation.

"I think the Swiss played really well," said Germany's Frederik Tiffels. "We at times didn’t play up to our standard, and they made us pay. We have to get back to our standard from now on."

But Thursday’s early action was all about a Swiss offensive explosion in the second period. It started in the 25th minute when Riat opened the scoring. The play started just outside the zone with Christian Marti drilling the puck forward. A kind bounce off a German defender presented Ken Jager with a shooting chance and his rebound fell perfectly for Riat to claim his fourth goal in four games here.

Barely a minute later, Andrighetto doubled the lead. His shot from deep in the corner took a deflection off Mathias Niedermeyer on its way to goal, with Timo Meier in close attendance to distract the goalie. At the time, Switzerland had 22 shots in 26 minutes’ play and the 2-0 lead was evidence that getting pucks to the net brings its own rewards.

Not that every shot can deliver. Michael Fora rifled home a third goal, only to be denied when a video review found that Christoph Bertschy strayed offside in the build-up.

But it wasn’t long before Andrighetto was padding that lead. On 33:51 he potted his second of the game when Kevin Fiala set him up for another shot from wide on the right. Andrighetto had time to set himself for a wrister from the face-off dot, but Niederberger will be disappointed to let that effort flash over his glove.

And a minute later he completed his hat-trick with a power play goal. The man advantage enabled the Swiss offence to move the puck effortlessly around the German zone. Then, when Andrighetto saw a shooting lane from the circle, he let rip to make it 4-0. That was the first natural hat-trick at an IIHF World Championship since David Pastrnak for Czechia in 2022. Switzerland had taken the game away in little over 10 minutes – and all this without Nico Hischier, who left the action injured in the first period after completing just five shifts.

Despite that scoring surge, Germany was not entirely deflated. Tim Stutzle darted into the danger zone, held off the attentions of Tim Berni and tested Genoni from close range. The Swiss goalie continued his impressive form, turning away that effort then mopping up a follow-up attempt to keep his goal intact.

And the Stutzle-Genoni duel continued at the start of the third. The German forward had a couple of big chances, but Genoni maintained the upper hand in that personal battle. The best of his stops saw him absolutely rob the Ottawa Senator with an outstretched glove when Stutzle got free between the hash marks.

But this was all about Andrighetto and he continued to his one-man tormenting of Niederberger in the 49th minute. Not for the first time, Dean Kukan found Malgin, whose pass set up Sven on the right-hand dot. This time we saw another snorter of a snipe, but aimed to the blocker side for some variety.

Prior to that second stanza boom, Switzerland shaded an even first period. The two teams played at a high tempo and traded decent chances without managing to solve goaltenders Niederberger and Genoni. The closest we came to a goal in those exchanges was an early Swiss power play. Tyler Moy got two opportunities to unleash his one-timer, clipping the angle of post and bar with the first attempt, then bringing a good save from Niederberger with a wicked shot from a tight angle.

A late power play goal saw Michaelis redirect a Jonas Muller shot into the net for a little consolation for Germany, but it was the Swiss that celebrated the dominant win.

"It’s always a special game," said Swiss blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler." We’re neighbor countries. It’s a derby. Those kinds of games always get a little heated. Those are the games you especially want to win a little more."

Switzerland returns to action tomorrow evening against Norway, looking to consolidate its position among the Group B leaders. Germany will hope to get back to winning ways on Saturday lunchtime with a tricky test against the USA.

"Like always, we want to put our best foot forward," said Tiffels. "i assume we’re going to look at some video, clean some things up, and give our best effort against the USA."