Junior World Cup summary: Latvia surprises Canada with penalty shootout win

Friday is the second day of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships taking place in Ottawa.

Games Day 2:

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) played its first game of the tournament in a Group A game at Canadian Tire Center won.

Mateiko ran in and shot it past Canadian goalkeeper Jack Ivankovic’s blocker.

“I lost consciousness a little bit,” Mateiko said. “First, I had about 10 minutes to remember where I shot the puck because it was my second penalty shot. 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 victory ever in the preliminary round of the Junior World Championships.

“It’s unreal,” said Latvia captain Peteris Bulans (2025 draft eligible). “Actually there are no words to describe it. Someone needs to pinch me now because it feels unreal.”

Mateiko and Bulans scored a goal for Latvia in the third period. Linards Feldbergs (draft eligible for 2025) made 54 saves, plus eight in the shootout.

Canada had won its last 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 December 27, 2023. Feldbergs allowed seven of 31 shots, before 3:51 went into the third period of the game.

“I didn’t have that in mind,” said Feldbergs. “It’s a new year, a new game. So I just did my thing and that was it.”

Jett Luchanko (Philadelphia Flyers) and Calum Ritchie (Colorado Avalanche) scored for Canada (1-0-1-0). Jack Ivankovic (draft-eligible for 2025) made 24 saves, plus seven in the shootout.

Ivankovic became the first 17-year-old goalkeeper since Jimmy Waite in 1987 to start a game for Canada at the World Junior Championships.

“Full marks for Latvia,” said Canada coach Dave Cameron. “We had 56 shots. What they didn’t block, their goalkeeper blocked. I don’t know how long the (offensive) zone would last, but we spent most of the game in their zone and weren’t able to generate enough offense.

“We probably play this game, we win nine times out of 10. So it’s not so much about what we didn’t do, but about what Latvia did.”

Mateiko said his team’s confidence grew after the first half.

“I feel like when it was 0-0 after the first period, we knew we were in this game,” he said. “We had a few chances and played well defensively. So yeah, I think after the first game we knew we were in, so it was nice for us.”

Luchanko scored a shorthanded goal at 3:28 of the second period. He caused a turnover in the middle of the ice and ran in alone to grab the loose puck deep in the Latvia zone. He hit the brakes, put the puck on his backhand and scored.

Mateiko tied the score at 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 gave Canada a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at 14:22 when he passed a pass from Easton Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs) over the Feldberg blocker.

“It’s obviously not the best feeling, but I know we’ll bounce back,” said Ritchie. “It’s a fast tournament. Every day is a new day, so I have to regroup and look forward to the next game.”

Bulans tied the game at 2-2 with 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 come back. We have to. There is no other way out. And that’s what we did. We believed in it. When we got the power play, I thought, yeah, this is my time to shine.”

Canadian defenseman Matthew Schaefer, expected to be one of the top four picks in the 2025 NHL Draft, left the game with 15:35 left in the first period when he suffered an apparent left shoulder injury after hitting the goal. Schaefer had a goal and an assist in Canada’s 4-0 win over Finland on Thursday.

Cameron had no information about Schäfer’s condition after the game.

Latvia plays the United States on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET). Canada next plays Germany on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET).

Slovakia 2, Switzerland 1 – Jan Chovan, a C-rated 2025 NHL Draft prospect, scored with 3:18 left in the third period to lead Slovakia to the World Juniors’ first win in a Group B game at TD Place.

Swiss defenseman Leon Muggli (Washington Capitals) attempted a breakout pass behind his net, but missed his teammate Endo Meier (2025 draft eligible) and the puck went to Chovan, who scored between the circles.

Daniel Alexander Jencko (eligible for draft in 2025) also scored for Slovakia (1-0-0-1). Samuel Urban (draft-eligible for 2025) made 28 saves.

“It was a lot of back and forth,” said Slovakian defenseman Maxim Strbak (Buffalo Sabres). “We tried to play hard. I think we played a better game than yesterday (2-5 loss to Sweden). We were more direct, more physical and in the end we won. So that’s all that matters.”

Eric Schneller (eligible for draft in 2025) scored for Switzerland (0-0-0-2). Christian Kirsch (San Jose Sharks) made 27 saves.

“You have to be a little cooler,” said Swiss coach Marcel Jenni. “The boys are trying really hard. They want to score, but sometimes they get blocked a little bit. There’s a little bit missing here and there.”

Swiss forward Jonah Neuenschwander (2027 draft-eligible) scored a shot on goal in 12:41 minutes of ice time in his tournament debut, becoming the first 15-year-old to play at the World Juniors since 2001 and the fifth ever.

Neuenschwander (6-foot-1, 181 pounds) scored 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 26 games for Biel-Beinne’s team in the Swiss Junior League.

“He got better as the game went on and did really good things on defense,” Jenni said. “He was physical and really showed a mature game for a 15-year-old player. I’m glad he helped our team.”

Jencko made it 1-0 at 18:46 of the first period when he redirected a shot from Luka Radivojevic (2025 draft eligible).

After 1:48 p.m. of the second period, Schneller equalized to make it 1-1. He had just left the penalty area when he received a stretch pass from 2025 draft-eligible Jamiro Reber and held off Radivojevic as he ran in and scored.

Each team plays next on Sunday, Switzerland vs. Sweden (noon ET) and Slovakia vs. Czech Republic (5 p.m. ET).

Finland 3, Germany 1 — Petteri Rimpinen, a W-rated goaltender 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 bounced back from a 4-0 loss to Canada on Thursday. German goalkeeper Linus Vieillard (draft eligible for 2025), who was voted Germany’s player of the match, made 40 saves.

“We played Canada and they had a really good team, so it was a difficult first game,” Helenius said. “Now we were able to win against Germany. Perhaps the biggest difference is the smaller ice here, so you have less time. Every team wants to win gold, so that’s our goal. We have a great team, but it’s a difficult start. 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 defender received a pass from Helenius and scored with a snapshot from the right faceoff circle.

Arttu Alasiurua (2025 draft eligible) made it 2-0 at 5:10 of the second period with a tic-tac-toe pass play with Tuomas Uronen (Vegas Golden Knights) and Jesse Nurmi (New York Islanders).

Clemens Sager (draft eligible for 2025) brought Germany within 2-1 after 7:24 with a snapshot from the right faceoff circle.

“The boys fought really hard and gave themselves the chance to win,” said national coach Tobias Abstreiter. “Our goalkeeper (Vieillard) had a phenomenal game and the penalty was good, so we had good moments. We had the chance to win, but you have to cover up those chances.”

Finland had to fend off a German power play with less than five minutes left in regulation to secure the win after Emil Hemming (Dallas Stars) was called for tripping at 15:38.

Jesse Kiiskinen (Detroit Red Wings) scored an unanswered goal at 18:43 of the third period to make the final score 3-1.

“I think the second game is a bit of a pressure game, especially when you lose the first,” Finland coach Lauri Mikkola said. “We played a little better with the puck today and attacked better and created a lot of chances to score.”

Finland placed fourth at the 2024 WJC and fifth in 2023. The country’s last of five gold medals ever came at the 2019 WJC in Vancouver.

Finland next plays against the USA on Sunday. Germany plays against Canada on Sunday.

Sweden 8, Kazakhstan 1 — Anton Wahlberg (Buffalo Sabres) scored two goals and two assists in a Group B preliminary round game at TD Place.

Victor Eklund, an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary watch list, had a goal and an assist, and Marcus Gidlof (New York Islanders) made 15 saves for Sweden (2-0-0-0), which included Won 5-0. 2 against Slovakia in the tournament opener on Thursday.

“I play with good players and they made it look easy out there. “I’m 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 winners.

Sweden has won its last eight meetings against Kazakhstan dating back to 1998, outscoring its opponents 67-14 during that period.

Artur Gross (2025 draft eligible) scored and Vladimir Nikitin (Ottawa Senators) made 44 saves (0-0-0-1). Kazakhstan returned to the U20 top flight after winning the 2024 WJC Division I Group A tournament last year.

Sweden scored three goals in a 6:05 span of the first period, based on goals from Eklund at 5:53, David Edstrom (Nashville Predators) at 9:20 and Linus Eriksson (Florida Panthers) at 11:58. Eklund’s goal, off a deflected goal, was his first at the World Juniors.

“It’s amazing,” Eklund said. “I just tried to go to the net and then I got the tip.”

Felix Nilsson (Predators) scored at 13:36 and Wahlberg scored his first goal of the game at 19:47, completing the Swedes’ five-goal streak in the first period.

Kazakhstan next plays against the Czech Republic on Saturday. Sweden, which lost 6-2 to the United States in the 2024 WJC gold medal game, plays Switzerland on Sunday.

NHL.com deputy editor Adam Kimelman and senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report.