Lativa pulls off a huge upset against Canada at the 2025 Junior World Championships

OTTAWA – Latvia pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Junior World Cup history by beating Canada 3-2 on penalties.

It was the first time that Latvia beat Canada at the World Junior Championships. It was also the first time in five meetings that Canada did not score at least five goals, and the second time that Canada did not score at least ten goals.

Canadian Jett Luchanko broke the stalemate midway through the second period when he scored on a shorthanded breakaway opportunity. From then on, the two goalies were on good terms and Linard’s Feldbergs stopped Canada whenever they tried to throw something at him.

Latvia stuck with it and held on until the end. With the score at 53:18 on the power play, Washington Capitals junior Eriks Mateiko took a shot from Bruno Osmanis and scored to make it 1-1, ending Canada’s shutout attempt.

But 5:38 minutes before the end, Canada took the lead again. On the power play, Easton Cowan found Calum Ritchie alone, and the Colorado Avalanche young player fired a shot past Feldbergs to make it 2-1.

But it still wasn’t finished. With time running out, Peteris Bulans scored through traffic and beat a screened Jack Ivankovic to force overtime – and ultimately a shootout. It took a while but Mateiko would end the game with a goal on his second attempt to secure the win.

It was a tough game by Canada’s standards, struggling to find chemistry and execute passes from tape to tape. More importantly, top defenseman and 2025 NHL Draft prospect Matthew Schaefer left the game with a suspected arm injury early in the first period. He never returned to the ice.

Here’s a look at the top performers from Friday night’s action:

Canada

#21 Calum Ritchie, C (Colorado Avalanche): Coach Dave Cameron relied on Ritchie’s NHL experience to take the lead in the third period. He was given so many chances to transform and didn’t lose many one-on-one battles anywhere on the ice. The Avalanche contender struggled a bit – and his teammates couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities – until he finally got it going in the third period. His powerful power play gave Canada the lead, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

#12 Jett Luchanko, C (Philadelphia Flyers): Luchanko scored the 1-0 goal, which essentially amounts to a workmanlike performance. He pushed the issue and made the breakaway before defeating Feldbergs with a great deke. Luchanko had a few chances to show some energy in the third period, and even though he couldn’t convert, I thought he was one of Canada’s more consistent strikers.

#6 Tanner Molendyk, D (Nashville Predators): Molendyk didn’t do much offensively, but defensively I liked his game. He was easily Canada’s most mobile defender and was promoted to the top power play unit when Schaefer suffered an injury. I liked him best in the third period, especially on a shift about eight minutes later when he broke through three Latvian rushes in 30 seconds. You can rest assured that Molendyk will be relied upon even more if Schaefer is out for an extended period of time.

Latvia

#29 Linards Feldbergs, G (undrafted): Fifty-four saves. Wow. Feldbergs was absolutely ready for action today and showed an absolute clinic online. Feldbergs was great at cross-ice passes and was also excellent on his feet. The Sherbrooke Phoenix goalkeeper has never started a major international tournament, but given the way he played against Canada, one has to assume they will use him for the important game against Germany later in the tournament . Just really a tremendous effort.

#22 Valdis Dommers, RW (undrafted): Every time the Latvians went to penalties, Dommers put his life at risk. He had three blocks on a kill in the first period and two more in the second period. Sure, he was hurt and banged up, but his commitment to keeping the puck away from Feldbergs was commendable.

#9 Eriks Mateiko, C (Washington Capitals): With a goal in regular time and the winning goal in the penalty shootout, there couldn’t have been a better evening for Mateiko. The big center took action when necessary to capitalize on the surprise. Welcome to the history of Lavian hockey folklore.

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