Frank Nazar has been incredible so far in the 2025 IIHF World Championships. He picked off right where he left off at the end of the NHL regular season with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Coming into Tuesday's game against Czechia, which closed out group play, Nazar was a top-five scorer in the tournament with four goals and five assists for nine points in six games. The man leading the pack in points, David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins) of Team Czechia, was on the opposing bench in this one.
During the second period of the match, Pastrnak had one goal and an assist on a goal scored by Martin Necas (Colorado Avalanche), which had Czechia ahead 2-1 going into the third.
1:35 into the third period is where Nazar took over. He scored a power-play goal to tie the game at two. His fifth goal of the tournament came at the perfect time for the Americans.
It didn't even take him five minutes to score his sixth to give Team USA a 3-2 lead. Not only has he been productive, but he's also been clutch. Once they took the lead, the Americans didn't look back from there.
Logan Cooley (Utah Mammoth) and Andre Peeke (Boston Bruins) each scored to extend the lead to 5-2, which eventually stood as the final. This team has what it takes to go on a run as long as they continue to get clutch goal-scoring from all of their lines.
Nazar is a big part of the team. He is arguably the most valuable skater on the roster right now. For his efforts, he was named the first star of the win against Czechia.
After his big two-goal game, Nazar is up to 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points in seven games played. He will move into the next phase of the tournament third in scoring.
Next up for Nazar and Team USA is the quarterfinals. They are being matched up against Team Finland on Thursday. It is win or go home from here, which may be where Frank Nazar thrives. This has been a wonderful experience for him.
