2025 World Juniors: Top standouts as Canada beats Germany 3-0
OTTAWA – It wasn’t pretty – again – but Canada took home the 3-0 victory over Germany to get back into the win column at the 2025 World Junior Championship.
Canada will have a chance to win Group A with a victory over the United States on Tuesday in the highly anticipated New Year’s Eve clash. Germany, meanwhile, will look to overtake Latvia and avoid the relegation round when the two meet up at the Canadian Tire Centre on Monday.
The Canadians were buzzing early, and they opened the scoring at 9:40. With Oliver Bonk in the bumper position – the spot he’s known for in London – the Philadelphia Flyers prospect would wire home a shot on the power play to make it 1-0.
But just like the game against Latvia, Canada couldn’t seem to put things together. They struggled to connect on passes, the line chemistry looked like a mess and sustained scoring pressure was almost non-existent. It was many of the same issues presented against Latvia – including an abundance of penalties, too.
Fortunately for the hosts, a weird bouncing goal with about five minutes left. Caden Price’s point shot went off the back boards and bounced off German goaltender Nico Pertuch and in to make it 2-0. Mathieu Cataford would finish things off with an empty-net goal with 2.4 seconds to go, a minute after Carter George attempted a goalie goal.
Here’s a look at the top performers from the final game of the weekend:
Canada
#30 Carter George, G (Los Angeles Kings): George has yet to allow a goal through two games, so it’s good to see that goaltending hasn’t been a problem. The Kings prospect has been great since allowing two bad goals against the Czechs in the pre-tournament, especially when it comes to handling shots near the posts. He doesn’t waste many movements, and he’s mentally sharp, too. A solid 25-save effort tonight.
#16 Carson Rehkopf, LW (Seattle Kraken): After watching the last few games from the press box, Rehkopf drew into the lineup and had a solid first game. He had a few chances in open space, and while he didn’t actually register any shots, he still was trying to generate something, at least. But, hey, Dave Cameron: try him with Porter Martone. I dare you. See what happens.
#27 Easton Cowan, RW (Toronto Maple Leafs): This wasn’t Cowan’s best game, but he was one of the few actually getting pucks on net. He has a powerful wrister – more than a year ago – and he was leaned on to generate chances as the game remained tight. Still, they need him to get back to scoring like he did early in the pre-tournament if Canada is going to go far this year.
Germany
#1 Nico Pertuch, G (Undrafted): The Canadians had more dangerous opportunities, and other than the shot from Bonk, Pertuch managed to stand on his head. This was the best game I’ve seen from him since the start of the pre-tournament – he didn’t panic, he didn’t have an issue tracking pucks and he moved much quicker than he did against the Americans. Pertuch is arguably the biggest reason why the Germans stayed in this one.
#7 Carlos Handel, D (2025 NHL Draft): The team that takes Handel at the 2025 NHL Draft is getting a smart, steady young blueliner who knows when to pinch and when to stay a bit more reserved. He never tries to overdo anything, but he has the skill and the hockey IQ to make the right plays more often than not.
SPONSORED BY bet365