The Ukrainian national hockey team defeated Poland in the second match of preparation for the 2025 World Championship.

The Ukrainian national hockey team defeated Poland with a score of 2:1

The Ukrainian national hockey team achieved victory in the second friendly match against the Polish national team as part of the preparation for the 2025 World Championship. This was reported by Suspilne Sport.

After being eliminated from the qualification for the 2026 Olympics, Ukraine began its preparation for the 2025 World Championship in Division IA. In May, it will compete against Japan, Italy, Great Britain, Romania, and Poland.

The Ukrainian national team confirmed two matches against its World Championship opponents, Poland, which took place during the training camp. In the first game, the Polish team won.

As in the first match, the score in the first 20 minutes was opened by the Ukrainian team – Ilya Kryklyak scored with an assist from Nikita Sydorenko. In the middle of the second period, Karol Bialas restored parity in the match, but at the 12th minute of the last 20 minutes, Oleksandr Shapovalov scored and brought the blue-yellow team their first victory in four matches.

At the end of the game, Poland equalized the score, but the referees disallowed the goal because the puck entered the net after the end of the regular game Time.

Friendly match. Second game

Poland – Ukraine 1:2 (0:1, 1:0, 0:1)

The last time Ukraine's national team won was in August, in a friendly match against Hungary (6:3).

It was also noted that the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL) canceled the Russian Heritage Night due to protests from Ukrainians. On December 12, as part of the NHL regular season match Columbus – Washington, a group of Russian fans from the USA planned to hold a Russian Heritage Night. Five Russians play for Columbus – goaltender Danilo Tarasov, defenseman Ivan Provorov, forwards Yegor Chinakhov, Dmitry Voronkov, and Kirill Marchenko.

It was also reported that NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly believes that the Russian national hockey team will not be allowed to participate in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy.