Throughout the World Juniors tournament, we’ll be keeping track of all the action and bringing you all of the results in one place.
Germany vs. Slovakia
The opening match saw two teams coming off of day one losses, but considering their competition, it could be argued that neither team got off to a bad start. Slovakia kept it close against Sweden right to the end, while Germany cut the USA lead to just one goal twice in the second period. Slovakia got a big boost coming into this game, with returning defenseman Luka Radivojevic rejoining the lineup after an illness sidelined him for the opener.
Slovakia had the better of the play in the opening minutes, aided by an early power play, with Tomas Pobezal ringing a shot off the iron. Team Slovakia continued to apply offensive pressure and were rewarded on the scoreboard for their effort Thomas Chrenko opened the scoring on a broken play to give Slovakia their first lead of the tournament. Radivojevic made a pass down low from the point that bounced around in the slot, before Chrenko was able to beat goaltender Linus Viellard. Chrenko would get his second of the game after a really impressive looking power play, concluding in Adam Nemec finding Chrenko right in front of the net for a quick goal. Germany was held without a shot for the final 13 minutes of the first period, getting out-shot 19-3. It was an extremely strong showing from Slovakia, but it’s also worth mentioning how quick of a turnaround this was for the Germans, who had fewer than 18 hours between their games.
The second period saw the script flip some, with Germany controlling play and getting the better of the chances. Unfortunately for them, their momentum came to a halt when Lenny Boos was given a double minor for high-sticking. Chrenko would complete the hat trick on the ensuing power play, with a pass attempt deflecting off of a German defender and into the net.
We have a #WorldJuniors hat trick 🧢🧢🧢
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 27, 2025
Tomas Chrenko notches 3 for Slovakia! #IIHF #SVKGER pic.twitter.com/UBW2emQJi6
Midway through the third period, after another push from Germany, Dustin Willhoft broke the shutout bid, retrieving a loose puck off of an uncontrolled entry and beating Michal Pradel one-one-one with a five hole shot. While he was not super busy for most of the game, Pradel had to make some excellent saves to maintain Slovakia’s lead in the final frame. Adam Belusko added a long-range, empty net goal with just under a minute remaining to secure Slovakia’s first win of the tournament.
Final: Slovakia 4 – Germany 1
Next game up (SVK): Dec 29, 6:00 ET vs. USA
Next game up (GER): Dec 29, 1:00 ET vs. Sweden
Latvia vs. Canada
In international hockey, Latvia has given Canada some scares, and the start of this game was yet another example. Outshooting the Canadians early, Latvia drew the first penalty of the game when Flyers prospect Jett Luchanko took a holding penalty on what was essentially a football tackle. Luchanko has had a rough start to the tournament, with his line getting dinged for three goals against in game one, and now a pretty bad penalty early in game two. A bit later, it looked as if Markuss Sieradzkis had given Latvia an early lead, but it was ruled no goal due to a distinct kicking motion. Canada finally began to find their game in the final minutes of the first period, overtaking Latvia in shots. Though the takeaway being “Canada finally overtakes Latvia in shots” really speaks to where this Canadian team is right now. Their ramp up seemed to carry somewhat over into the middle frame, and they very quickly went to work on a five minute power play after Zayne Parekh was hit up high.
Less than a minute into the power play, Gavin McKenna found Cole Reschny on the right faceoff dot, who then cut to the middle of the ice for a shot that beat Nils Maurins and broke the scoreless tie. While the shots on goal count was relatively close through the second period, Canada missed the net a ton in this game and was by this point largely controlling play. They still looked a step behind what we’d expect from a hockey powerhouse, but did recover well after a really troubling start to the game. Cole Beaudoin caught a bit of a lucky break when the referees missed a high hit he laid that could’ve absolutely been a major penalty, and soon after Ben Danford would be assessed a double minor for high-sticking. Discipline was a topic of conversation after game one — thanks in part to Porter Martone’s antics — and they appeared to be beginning to lose their composure a bit in this one as well. Martone did have a handful of run-ins with the Latvian goaltender that caused some post-whistle scrums. However, the Canadians were able to kill off the penalty and stayed out of the box the rest of the way.
The story of the third period was defensive hockey, with both teams looking to lock the other down. Eventually, the Latvians had start taking some chances as time was not on their side, and this opened the game up for both sides. Canada strung together a couple of really dangerous shifts but were unable to get another one by Maurins in regulation. With just under two minutes to play in regulation, Latvia found the game-tying goal thanks to Rudolfs Berzkalns pouncing on a rebound and kicking the puck off of his stick and into the net. A delay of game penalty put Canada on a power play with less than a minute remaining, and thanks to a pair of blocks by Antons Macijevskis, the game would head to overtime.
Still on the power play, and just 44 seconds into overtime, McKenna found Michael Hage across the ice for a one-timer to end the game. Canada got the win, but notably skated away with just two points instead of the three that a team gets for a regulation win. This is a team that is playing way under their potential right now, which has recently become an all too familiar trend for Canada in this tournament.
Final: Canada 2 – Latvia 1 (OT)
Next game up (CAN): Dec 29, 8:30 ET vs. Denmark
Next game up (LAT): Dec 28, 4:30 ET vs. Finland
USA vs. Switzerland
Heavy favorites in this one, team USA found themselves in a tightly contested first period against Switzerland. Interestingly, the Americans threatened much more offensively on the penalty kill than they did at even strength. First it was Cole Hutson on a partial breakaway, and then Brodie Ziemer only moments later on a odd man rush. Goaltender Christian Kirsch stood tall, stopping both A-plus chances to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes. All in all, it was a period that Switzerland had to have been happy with, keeping pace with the team going for a three-peat.
Early in the second period, Ziemer gave team USA the lead with a snipe from the inside of the faceoff circle. Ziemer had a great first period and the goal was a continuation of his strong play. Soon after, there was a scary moment when Cole Hutson was hit with a point shot on the back of his neck and dropped to the ice. He remained on the ice for some time, and eventually they called for the stretcher. He was moving his arms and legs before being taken off the ice, and the most recent report is that he was discharged from the hospital.
Team Switzerland scored their first goal of the tournament when Basile Sansonnens went bar down with a shot from far out to tie the game. On the very next shift, Cyrill Henry found an opening the flew in on a breakaway but was unable to beat Nicholas Kempf. It was a massive save at a huge spot in the game, keeping the game tied at one, and coming right after the Hutson injury. It wouldn’t stay tied for long, though, as Will Zellers, who has been great through this first two games, re-gained the lead for team USA. Zellers came in on the left boards and took a shot from an angle that isn’t the most dangerous, but it was a classic RVH goal, where the shooter aims for the goalie’s helmet/over the goalie’s shoulder to find the open space.
With the net empty and just about 40 seconds remaining in regulation, the Swiss hit the crossbar, but that would be as close as they would come to tying it. Similarly to their rivals from the north, it felt like team USA didn’t deliver their best game, but Kempf came up big when needed, and the Swiss were held to just 9 shots on goal.
Final: USA 2 – Switzerland 1
Next game up (USA): Dec 29, 6:00 ET vs. Slovakia
Next game up (SUI): Dec 28, 2:00 ET vs. Sweden
Denmark vs. Czechia
An early goal from Vojtech Cihar set the tone for Czechia just two minutes into the game. It was a bit of weird one, with a Tomas Galvas shot hitting him in front of the net, with the puck then finding its way through the five hole. The lead wouldn’t last for long, however, as just three minutes later Tristan Peterson jumped on a loose puck right in front of the net following a failed shot attempt and made no mistake. Both teams were humming offensively to start, but Denmark found themselves in trouble when Jesper Olesen was assessed a five minute major for a hit to the head.
On the ensuing power play, Matej Kubiesa found the back of the net with an absolute snipe, skating down the right boards and shooting far-side over the blocker of Anton Wilde. Czechia continued to press on the power play, with Wilde facing a number of tough chances, but were held to just the one tally on the major power play.
Back on the power play in the middle frame, Vaclav Nestrasil hit a no-look shot that found the back of the net. Tomas Poletin set a great screen in front to help block Wilde’s sight, and Nestrasil showed off his accuracy while feigning pass. This comes the day after Nestrasil set up a goal against Canada with a no-look pass; he’s had a great start to the tournament. Denmark pulled within one with a goal right off of a faceoff when Oliver Larsen ripped it far-side past Matyas Marik. Just a few minutes later Marik made the save of the tournament so far, robbing Oliver Green.
Denmark cam SO CLOSE to tying the game but Matyas Marik had other plans 😱#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/mThIPTbPu7
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 28, 2025
It’s at this point that game really got away from the Danes, with goals from Adam Jiricek and Stepan Hoch that increased Czechia’s lead to 5-2 prior to the end of the middle frame. The offense would continue in the third, with goals from Tomas Galvas (Czechia’s third power play goal of the game) and Richard Zemlicka to make it 7-2, which is how the game would end. On a day that included lopsided matchups on paper for both Canada and the United States, it was team Czechia that ended up producing the most dominant performance.
Final: Czechia 7 – Denmark 2
Next game up (CZE): Dec 29, 3:30 ET vs. Finland
Next game up (DEN): Dec 29, 8:30 ET vs. Canada
