Friday is the second day of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Ottawa.
Day 2 games:
Latvia 3, Canada 2 -- Eriks Mateiko (Washington Capitals) scored in the eighth round of the shootout as Latvia (0-1-0-0; W-OTW-OTL-L) won its first game of the tournament in a Group A game at Canadian Tire Centre.
Mateiko skated in and shot it past the blocker of Canada goalie Jack Ivankovic.
"I blacked out a little bit," Mateiko said. "At first I had like 10 minutes to remember where I shot it, because it was my second shootout. I usually only shoot one and the second one, I didn't even know where the puck went in at first."
It was Latvia's third-ever win in the preliminary round at the World Juniors.
"It's unreal," Latvia captain Peteris Bulans (2025 draft eligible) said. "Actually, no words to describe it. Someone has to pinch me now because it feels unreal."
Mateiko and Bulans scored in the third period for Latvia. Linards Feldbergs (2025 draft eligible) made 54 saves, plus eight in the shootout.
Canada had won its previous four games against Latvia at the World Juniors by a combined score of 41-4, including a 10-0 victory in the preliminary round of the 2024 World Juniors on Dec. 27, 2023. Feldbergs allowed seven goals on 31 shots before being pulled 3:51 into the third period of that game.
"It wasn't on my mind," Feldbergs said. "This is a new year, new game. So I was just doing my thing, and that was it."
Jett Luchanko (Philadelphia Flyers) and Calum Ritchie (Colorado Avalanche) scored for Canada (1-0-1-0). Jack Ivankovic (2025 draft eligible) made 24 saves, plus seven in the shootout.
Ivankovic was the first 17-year-old goalie to start a game for Canada in the World Juniors since Jimmy Waite in 1987.
"Full marks to Latvia," Canada coach Dave Cameron said. "We had 56 shots. What they didn't block, their goalie blocked. I don't know what the [offensive] zone time would be, but we spent most of the game in their zone and we weren't able to generate enough offense.
"We probably play that game, we win nine out of 10 times. So it's not so much about what we didn't do, but what Latvia did."
Mateiko said his team's confidence grew after the first period.
"I feel like when it was 0-0 after the first period, we knew we were in this game," he said. "We had some chances, and we played good defensively. So yeah, I think after the first, we knew we're in there, so it was nice for us."
Luchanko scored a short-handed goal at 3:28 of the second period. He caused a turnover at center ice and raced in alone to grab the loose puck deep in the Latvia zone. He slammed on the brakes, switched the puck to his backhand and scored.
Mateiko had tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 13:18 of the third period when he redirected a pass from Bruno Osmanis past Ivankovic.
Ritchie put Canada ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal 14:22 when he one-timed a pass from Easton Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs) over Feldbergs' blocker.
"It's obviously not the best feeling, but I know we're going to bounce back," Ritchie said. "It's a quick tournament. Every day is a new day, so just got to regroup and look forward to the next game."
Bulans tied it 2-2 on a power-play goal at 17:31 with a shot from the high slot through traffic.
"It was 1-1 and then 2-1," Bulans said. "We just have to get back. We have to. There's no other way around it. And we did that. We were believing that. When we got the power play, I was like, Yeah, that's the time to shine."
Canada defenseman Matthew Schaefer, expected to be a top-four pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, left the game with 15:35 remaining in the first period when he sustained an apparent injury to his left shoulder after crashing into the goal. Schaefer had a goal and an assist in Canada's 4-0 win against Finland on Thursday.
Cameron did not have an update on Schaefer's condition after the game.
Latvia plays against the United States on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET). Canada next plays against Germany on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET).
Slovakia 2, Switzerland 1 -- Jan Chovan, a C-rated prospect for the 2025 NHL Draft, scored with 3:18 remaining in the third period to lead Slovakia to its first win of the World Juniors in a Group B game at TD Place.
Switzerland defenseman Leon Muggli (Washington Capitals) tried for a breakout pass from behind his net, but missed teammate Endo Meier (2025 draft eligible) and the puck went to Chovan, who scored from between the circles.
Daniel Alexander Jencko (2025 draft eligible) also scored for Slovakia (1-0-0-1). Samuel Urban (2025 draft eligible) made 28 saves.
"It was a lot of back and forth," Slovakia defenseman Maxim Strbak (Buffalo Sabres) said. "We tried to play hard. I think we played a better game than yesterday [5-2 loss to Sweden]. We were more straightforward, more physical, and at the end we got the victory. So that's all that matters."
Eric Schneller (2025 draft eligible) scored for Switzerland (0-0-0-2). Christian Kirsch (San Jose Sharks) made 27 saves.
"You have to be a little bit more cool," Switzerland coach Marcel Jenni said. "The guys are trying hard. They want to score and sometimes they get a little bit blocked. It's missing by an inch here and a little bit there."
Switzerland forward Jonah Neuenschwander (2027 draft eligible) had one shot on goal in 12:41 of ice time in his tournament debut, becoming first 15-year-old to play in the World Juniors since 2001, and the fifth ever.
Neuenschwander (6-foot-3, 181 pounds) has 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 26 games for Biel-Beinne's team in Switzerland's junior league.
"He got better during the game, and he did really good stuff defense-wise," Jenni said. "He played physical and really played a mature game for a 15-year-old player. I'm happy he helped our team."
Jencko made it 1-0 at 18:46 of the first period when he redirected a shot by Luka Radivojevic (2025 draft eligible).
Schneller tied 1-1 at 13:48 of the second period. He had just exited the penalty box when he got a stretch pass from Jamiro Reber (2025 draft eligible), and held off Radivojevic when he skated in and scored.
Each team next plays Sunday, Switzerland against Sweden (Noon ET), and Slovakia against Czechia (5 p.m. ET).
Finland 3, Germany 1 -- Petteri Rimpinen, a W rated goalie on NHL Central Scouting's players to watch list and projected late-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, made 31 saves in a Group A preliminary-round game at Canadian Tire Centre.
Konsta Helenius (Buffalo Sabres) had an assist for Finland (1-0-0-1), which rebounded after a 4-0 loss to Canada on Thursday. Germany goalie Linus Vieillard (2025 draft eligible), who was named Germany’s player of the game, made 40 saves.
"We played against Canada, and they had a really good team, so it was a tough first game," Helenius said. "Now we were able to win against Germany. Maybe the biggest difference is the smaller ice here, so you have less time. Every team wants to win the gold, so that's our goal. We have a great team, but it's a tough start to the tournament to play against Canada. Now, it's very important that we keep going."
Emil Pieniniemi (Pittsburgh Penguins) gave Finland a 1-0 lead at 17:30 of the first period. The 19-year-old defenseman took a pass from Helenius and scored on a snap shot from the right face-off circle.
Arttu Alasiurua (2025 draft eligible) pushed it to 2-0 on a tic-tac-toe passing play with Tuomas Uronen (Vegas Golden Knights) and Jesse Nurmi (New York Islanders) at 5:10 of the second period.
Clemens Sager (2025 draft eligible) pulled Germany within 2-1 at 7:24 on a snap shot from the right face-off circle.
"The boys really battled hard and gave themselves a chance to win," Germany coach Tobias Abstreiter said. "Our goalie [Vieillard] had a phenomenal game, and the penalty kill was good, so we had good moments. We had a chance to win, but you've got to bury those chances."
Finland needed to deny a Germany power play with less than five minutes remaining in regulation to seal the victory after Emil Hemming (Dallas Stars) was called for tripping at 15:38.
Jesse Kiiskinen (Detroit Red Wings) scored an empty-net goal at 18:43 of the third period for the 3-1 final.
"I think the second game is little bit like a pressure game, especially if you lose that first one," Finland coach Lauri Mikkola said. "We were playing a little bit better with the puck today and were attacking better; made lots of scoring chances."
Finland finished fourth at the 2024 WJC and fifth in 2023. The country's last of five gold medals all-time came at the 2019 WJC in Vancouver.
Finland will next play the United States on Sunday. Germany will play Canada on Sunday.
Sweden 8, Kazakhstan 1 -- Anton Wahlberg (Buffalo Sabres) had two goals and two assists in a Group B preliminary-round match at TD Place.
Victor Eklund, an A rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch list, had a goal and an assist and Marcus Gidlof (New York Islanders) made 15 saves for Sweden (2-0-0-0), which won 5-2 against Slovakia in its tournament opener on Thursday.
"I play with good players and they made it look easy out there. Just trying to play the right way," Wahlberg said.
David Granberg (2025 draft eligible) had a goal and an assist and Viggo Gustafsson (Nashville Predators) and Zeb Forsfjall (Seattle Kraken) each had two assists for the victors.
Sweden has won the past eight meeting against Kazakhstan, dating to 1998, and has outscored its opponent 67-14 over that span.
Artur Gross (2025 draft eligible) scored, and Vladimir Nikitin (Ottawa Senators) made 44 saves Kazakhstan (0-0-0-1). Kazakhstan returned to the top level of under-20 play after winning the 2024 WJC Division I Group A tournament last year.
Sweden scored three goals in a span of 6:05 in the first period on goals by Eklund at 5:53, David Edstrom (Nashville Predators) at 9:20, and Linus Eriksson (Florida Panthers) at 11:58. Eklund's goal, off a deflection from the slot, was his first at the World Juniors.
"It's amazing," Eklund said. "I just tried to go to the net and then got the tip."
Felix Nilsson (Predators) scored at 13:36 and Wahlberg his first of the game at 19:47 to complete a five-goal first period for the Swedes.
Kazahkstan will next play Czechia on Saturday. Sweden, which lost 6-2 to the United States in the gold medal game of the 2024 WJC, will play Switzerland on Sunday.
NHL.com deputy managing editor Adam Kimelman and senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report.
