2025 World Juniors Roundup: Everything that happened on Day 3
OTTAWA – Saturday was the first two-game day of the World Juniors, and it had its fair share of interesting moments.
Neither game ended particularly close, with USA beating a tired Latvian team 5-1 at the Canadian Tire Centre, while Czechia crushed Kazakhstan 14-2 at TD Place.
Here’s a look at what happened on Day 3 in Ottawa:
USA stays perfect with win over Latvia
The United States improved to 2-0 on the tournament after beating an inspired Latvian team 5-1 on Saturday.
USA will look to stay hot with a meeting against the 1-1 Finnish team on Sunday, while Latvia will take on the Germans on Monday.
Danny Nelson led the way for the Americans, scoring two goals, with assists from fellow New York Islanders prospect Cole Eiserman. Ryan Leonard and Zeev Buium both scored for the Americans, showing that the big guns mean business. Latvia did get a late goal, with Davids Livsics converting on a bouncing puck to make it 4-1. At that point, though, it was far too late for the Latvians to get back in it, with Max Plante scoring one late to finish the scoring.
USA
#12 James Hagens, C (2025 NHL Draft): Hagens had a pair of primary assists on excellent plays in the second period. He loves distributing in open space, and he’s especially good at setting up his good buddy and Boston College teammate Ryan Leonard. With Canada’s Matthew Schaefer out for the tournament and Porter Martone playing deeper in the lineup, Hagens has had a chance to show why many consider him to be the top prospect in the 2025 NHL Draft. Sitting at six points through two games doesn’t hurt, either.
#30 Hampton Slukynsky, G (Los Angeles Kings): After a bit of an iffy game from Trey Augustine, Slukynsky took the reigns and looked great against the Latvians. He stopped almost every shot sent his way, which included a busy opening 40 minutes for the American keeper. His glove hand was on point, and his reactions seemed quicker than I remember him from his draft year. Look for Augustine to go the distance from here, but Slukynsky proved that he can handle anything thrown at him.
#91 Cole Eiserman, LW (New York Islanders): Eiserman had an electric second period, leading all players with four shots. They were all quality chances, too, and he nearly had a fifth that would have gone in if it wasn’t for a huge block by a Latvian penalty killer. Add in the two assists on both of Nelson’s goals for good measure and it’s a good sign to see him thriving right now.
#17 Danny Nelson, C (New York Islanders): Nelson isn’t known for his scoring, but he had a pair today. He started the scoring at 1:58 when he took Eiserman’s feed in front of the net and continued it with a power-play marker with six seconds left in the middle stanza. His defensive game was great, as usual.
Latvia
#29 Linards Feldbergs, G (Undrafted): Feldbergs was busy against Canada, and while he had a quieter night against the Americans, asking him to play against two tournament heavyweights in less than 24 hours is a tough ask. Feldbergs was especially good on a second-period penalty kill, robbing a high-flying American attack three separate times. There’s only so much you can do when your team doesn’t score, but Feldbergs showed again why he might be the best story of the tournament so far.
#24 Daniels Serkins, LW (2025 NHL Draft): Scouts definitely took notice of Serkins’ multiple blocks. He was clearly in some serious pain multiple times, but he was the reason why the United States probably didn’t score another three goals. He’s not big or strong, but he’s energetic and committed to keeping the puck away from the net – you love to see that.
Czechia smokes Kazakhstan
Czechia has taken home the victory in the most lopsided game of the 2025 World Junior Championship, beating Kazakhstan 14-2 at TD Place on Saturday.
Czechia has improved to 2-0 after also beating Switzerland 5-1 on the opening day of play. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, sits at 0-2 after two games but has two important games against Slovakia and Switzerland still left on the docket.
The Kazakhs got off to a solid start, registering two quick shots – including one on a solid breakaway chance. But two goals just six minutes apart put the Czechs in the lead early. At 5:45, Matej Mastralirsky scored after taking Jakub Fibigr’s feed and scoring on his own rebound. Then, on the next play, Jakub Stancl set up Petr Sikora on the rush to make it 2-0 to completely flip the game upside down.
Kazakhstan would get one goal before the end of the first period, with Kirill Kyapunov capitalizing on the power play at 18:34. But by then, the Czechs already had two more goals from Vojtech Hradec and Jakub Dvorak, making it a 4-1 game.
Everything fell apart in the second period. Czechia scored seven goals on 15 shots in the second, with the Kazakhs making a second goalie change after the eighth goal. Alexander Kim would score early in the second to give the Kazakhs another reason to celebrate, but Jakub Stancl and Vojtech Hradec had a goal each in the final two minutes to finish off the game.
Czechia
#12 Eduard Sale, LW (Seattle Kraken): Sale got the game started with an excellent first-period first period with two assists. He made a great play on the first goal, analyzing the Kazakh defense before finding an open spot for Jakub Fibigr. He then had a second assist on a great pass to Dvorak at 11:01 to help put the game out of reach early. He was quiet the rest of the day, but the Czechs needed Sale to have a big showing and he delivered.
#18 Matej Mastalirsky, RW (Undrafted): Mastalirsky scored the 1-0 goal at 5:45 and then had two more on consecutive shifts in the second. The sharpshooting forward made the most of his opportunities and overall showed a solid level of energy. Not bad for the undrafted 19-year-old looking to turn some heads.
#21 Jakub Stancl, RW (St. Louis Blues): Stancl had an outstanding showing with two goals and two assists. The goal was nice, but the set-ups on the two assists were excellent, too. He sees the ice as well as anyone on this team and has been a primary play driver early on. The Blues have a lot of solid prospects at this tourney, and Stancl is one of the best.
#22 Vojtech Hradec, C (Utah Hockey Club): Three goals and two assists? Not a bad night. The 6-foot-4 forward was a perfect net-front presence for the Czechs, and while he’s known more for his defensive play, it was his chops with the puck that really stood out today. But he also overpowered opponents and backchecked hard, so that’s a plus.
#7 Jakub Fibigr, D (Seattle Kraken): Fibigr was my favorite defenseman today. He can be a bit inconsistent in his own zone but he did a good job of keeping the Kazakhs to the outside and four assists to boot. Three of them were secondary, but it was because he did so well on the zone entries all game long.
Kazakhstan
#29 Kirill Lyapunov, LW (Undrafted): There wasn’t much to get excited about on Kazakhstan’s end, but I thought he looked good before he scored the first Kazakh goal. He helped set up a breakaway and had two other decent looks in the second before he scored on the power play.
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