Following last month's Finnish Ice Hockey Games, the top four European national teams are meeting again this week as they ramp up preparations for the 2026 Winter Olympics, though their National Hockey League players remain absent.
Sweden took the title in Tampere, and they have made a great start in this event too, as they silenced the home crowd at the Swiss Life Arena in Zurich with a 3-2 win, secured via a shootout.
The home fans were much more vocal when Tyler Moy netted on a powerplay as early as the third minute, but their joy was short-lived, as Par Lindholm - the man whose foul gave the Switzerland the powerplay - levelled the scores shortly before five minutes had been played.
Yet a second interference call against Tre Kronor, this time against Jacob de la Rose, allowed the Swiss the chance to retake the lead, which they did, courtesy of Damien Riat in the 12th minute.
Andrea Glauser took centre-stage in the second period for all the wrong reasons - he was called for hooking in the first minute, then was ejected before the midpoint of the match for kneeing.
Though Sweden failed to level with an extra player, those penalties perhaps took their toll on the home side, as two minutes into the third period, Tim Heed set up Andre Petersson to level matters once more.
That sent the match to overtime, but when neither side could find a winning goal, penalties were required. Rickard Hugg scored for Sweden, who stayed in front following Theo Rochette's failure to convert.
Neither Petersson nor Riat could add a penalty to the goals they scored in regulation, before Felix Nilsson gave the Swedes an unassailable 2-0 lead, sealing a 3-2 win in the match.
Earlier this evening, Czech Republic made full use of their one home match in the four-team competition, running out 3-1 winners over Finland at the Home Credit Arena in Liberec.
Neither side could profit from powerplay opportunities in the first period, yet the Czechs did not need an extra player when they broke the deadlock through Roman Cervenka seven minutes into period two.
That's how things stayed until early in the third period when Ondrej Kase swiftly punished the Finns following a holding call against Sami Niku, but five minutes later Robin Salo finally got Leijonat on the board to halve the deficit.
Finland thought they had levelled in the final minute, only for Vili Saarijarvi's goal to be disallowed following a review, and to compound the visitors' disappointment, Lukas Rousek added a third for the hosts, finding the empty net with just three seconds to play.
The action resumes in Zurich on Saturday, as Finland face Sweden and Switzerland take on Czech Republic, before the tournament concludes on Sunday.