2025 World Juniors Roundup: Everything that happened on Day 5
OTTAWA – The final two-game day of the round-robin took place at the 2025 World Junior Championship, with Slovakia and Latvia taking home victories.
Slovakia clinched a playoff spot, finishing third in Group B with five points. Latvia will claim the fourth spot in Group A, while Germany will play in the relegation round for the second consecutive year.
Here’s a breakdown of everything that happened on Monday:
Slovakia weathers Kazakh storm to 5-4 win
Kazakhstan managed to erase a 4-1 deficit to force overtime, but it wasn’t enough as Slovakia held on for the 5-4 overtime victory.
Slovakia has clinched third spot in Group B with five points. Kazakhstan has one, while Switzerland has zero. Those two teams will battle for a quarterfinal spot on Tuesday afternoon at TD Place.
The Slovaks were flying early, with Dalibor Dvorsky scoring two goals in the opening 14 minutes. Dvorsky then helped set up Pekarcik for the 3-0 goal. The shots were 16-1 in the first, so there wasn’t much to celebrate on the Kazakh side. That all changed early in the second when Artur Gross broke free on a breakaway and made it 3-1. Kazakhstan wasn’t able to sustain the pressure and saw Pekarcik score again, giving Slovakia the 4-1 lead.
Things got rather interesting from there, though. Assanali Sarkenov scored at 36:14 to make it 4-2, giving his team some life. Sarkenov was then ejected for cross-checking Frantisek Dej in the face at 55:21, putting Kazakhstan down a man for the remainder of the game. That didn’t stop them, though, as Davlat Nurkenov scored a shorthanded goal just over a minute into the penalty kill to make it 4-3.
Just when everyone thought it was over, it wasn’t. With 29 seconds to go in regulation, Kirill Lyapunov scored another shorthanded goal to force overtime. Unfortunately for Kazakhstan, they couldn’t complete the comeback as Maxim Strbak scored on a breakaway near the end of extra time to secure the victory.
Slovakia
#15 Dalibor Dvorsky, C (St. Louis Blues): From his very first shift, Dvorsky meant business. It looked like he was toying with Kazakhstan out there, making move after move. He finally capitalized at 8:07 before scoring against about five minutes later. He then set up Pekarcik for the third and fourth goals, and almost had another two goals himself. Playing in all situations, Dvorsky was clearly the most skilled player on the ice, and this was his most dominant performance of the tournament.
#18 Juraj Pekarcik, LW (St. Louis Blues): Pekarcik was just as important as Dvorsky. He had two goals and two assits, with the instant chemistry being evident from the get-go. They’ve been paired together in other international tournaments, which explains how they can read passes to each other as well as they do. Pekarcik’s best moment was his pass down to Strbak to win the game in overtime to help avoid a total collapse.
#17 Daniel Jencko, RW (Undrafted): Jencko had two assists to join the fun. His value to the top line was a bit different: he’s a great puckhandler, but he also brought the energy and the speed to the big trio. The UMass forward is having a great year in college and now he finishes the round-robin with four points in four games in his best international tournametn to date. He has good players to play with, but he also has been so good at both ends.
#4 Maxim Strbak, D (Buffalo Sabres): Between blocked shots, an assist and the game-winnng goal, this was a good showing for the Sabres prospect. For the most part, I think he’s been a good two-way threat and I’ve liked how hard he battles to win pucks. He looks stronger than he did a year ago – and any additional offense is nice, too.
Kazakhstan
#55 Vladimir Nikitin, G (Ottawa Senators): Nikitin played his best game of the tournament today, giving Kazakhstan a chance when they were getting blasted on the shot counter. The Senators’ prospect did a better job of tracking shots and using his reflexes to his advantage, and he was forced to make some big saves – especially in the first period. If it wasn’t for his play in the third period, Kazakhstan wasn’t coming back in this one. What a night for the young keeper.
#29 Kirill Lyapunov, LW (Undrafted): Lyapunov has been Kazakhstan’s best forward, and the goal to force overtime was absolutely electric. From the blocked shots earlier in the penalty kill to creating his own rush, Lyapunov was so important in getting the Kazakhs back in the game.
Germany to play in relegation round after loss to Latvia
Germany will play in the relegation year for the second straight year after not getting a full three points in a 4-3 loss against Latvia.
By virtue of getting at least one point, Latvia has taken the fourth spot in Group A to earn a spot in the quarterfinal. Germany, meanwhile, will play in the relegation round against either Kazakhstan or Switzerland, with the two teams meeting on Tuesday afternoon.
It took almost no time for the Germans to get on the board. Just 19 seconds in, Simon Seidl converted on a chance from Julius Sumpf to make it 1-0. They’d double the advantage on the power play at 28:40, with Edwin Tropmann scoring six seconds after Sumpf won the faceoff. But less than a minute later, Eriks Mateiko scored a big goal to cut the lead in half, making it a 2-1 hockey game.
The Latvians were buzzing early in the third and they managed to make it count. At 46:55, Bruno Osmanis converted off a Peteris Bulans feed to make it 2-2, putting Latvia in the spot they needed to be in late.
Germany knew they needed to score to avoid overtime, so they pulled the goalie to take a 6-on-4 advantage on a late power play. Unfortunately for the Germans, Olivers Murnieks scored a shorthanded empty-netter at 57:16, taking the steam out of Germany’s sails. That was, of course, until David Lewandowski scored to make it 3-3 – but that still wasn’t enough to get the points required to advance to the quarterfinal.
In the extra frame, it would be Mateiko – again – who would solve the game, blasting a shot in in the closing stages to make it 4-3.
Germany
#21 Julius Sumpf, C (Undrafted): Sumpf had two assists in the first half of the game to get the Germans started on the right foot. The crafty forward had points in each of his first two games but lacked high-danger chances against Canada. Today, I liked the way he outmuscled opponents and created chances consistently.
#22 Edwin Tropmann, D (Undrafted): For a defender who hadn’t scored a goal all year long, today was a big day for Tropmann. He scored the 2-0 goal on a blast just six seconds into a German power play in the second to give them a big lead at the time. He also had a whopping five shots in the first two periods as he kept trying to do whatever it took to get his team moving.
#27 Simon Seidl, RW (Undrafted): Seidl scored the first goal of the game – a product of being in the right spot at the right time. He also had five shots in the opening frame in easily the best period by a German forward at this tournament. He hadn’t done much offensively before today, but he was found in front of the net quite often today, and it paid off.
Latvia
#29 Linards Feldbergs, G (Undrafted): Feldbergs has already locked up Latvia’s MVP title for how well he has played over the past week. Today was no different, especially as he was forced to make 13 saves in the opening period alone. The two German goals were great opportunities, but Feldbergs didn’t crumple under pressure in what was the smallest workload of the tournament for him.
#9 Eriks Mateiko, LW (Washington Capitals): The Latvian hero against Canada was at it again, scoring the 2-1 goal less than a minute after Germany scored their second. Mateiko battled hard, hitting everyone in sight and it eventually led to the 2-1 goal. But nothing was as important as the game-winning goal in overtime, giving Latvia a second victory for the first time in tournament history. He’s Latvia’s smartest player and the one with the best shot, and he continues to show why the Latvians lean on him heavily game after game.
#19 Bruno Osmanis, RW (2025 NHL Draft): Osmanis was a one-man show in the third period. He had two outstanding looks before he eventually capitalized, making it a 2-2 game. He was knocked out of the game halfway through the third after taking a stick to the left eye, which was quite scary. But on the ice, Osmanis was everywhere.
#14 Olivers Murnieks, C (2026 NHL Draft): Murnieks had two assists and then scored the 3-2 goal on the empty net. The 2026 NHL Draft prospect is considered by many to be the future of Latvian hockey, and today, it was the best game of his tournament. He was the team’s best set-up man, played well on the rush and got in the way of shots late when they needed him. What a night.