2025 World Juniors: Top standouts from Kazakhstan vs. Switzerland

Credit: (Steven Ellis/The Nation Network)

OTTAWA – Switzerland is off to the quarterfinals after beating Kazakhstan 3-1 on Tuesday afternoon at TD Place.

Kazakhstan will play in the relegation round against Germany on Thursday morning, while Switzerland will play later in the afternoon.

Switzerland’s power play was dangerous, with Simon Meier opening the scoring at 1:41. The Kazakhs battled back about five minutes later, with Kirill Lyapunov scoring at 6:10 to tie the game off of an outstanding individual effort.

Kazakhstan struggled to keep Swiss keeper Christian Kirsch busy, and they suffered because of it. Robin Antenen scored at 37:18 from the boards to make it 2-1, with Ludvig Johnson scoring on the man advantage in the third period to put Kazakhstan’s dreams to rest.

Here’s a look at the top performers from Tuesday:

Kazakhstan

#29 Kirill Lyapunov, LW (Undrafted): Scouts have been impressed with Kazakhstan’s Kirill Lyapunov at this tournament. He was a big part of the Division IA tourney last year, and he scored his third goal of the tournament on a tremendously skilled play today. Lyapunov isn’t big but it hasn’t slowed him down in Ottawa – his speed and quick moves have made him one of Kazakhstan’s most dangerous puck-handlers.

#55 Vladimir Nikitin, G (Ottawa Senators): Kazakhstan had a hard time generating chances, but Switzerland didn’t. That meant Nikitin – who started against Slovakia on Monday – had to be busy. The second goal against was a bit ugly, but he was the primary reason why Kazakhstan stayed in that one.

Switzerland

#26 Eric Schneller, D (Undrafted): The more the tournament plays on, the more I like Schneller. Enough to see the double undrafted defender get serious looks from an NHL team? Not exactly. But the mobile defender has done a lot with the puck this tournament and has been the team’s best all-around blueliner. Today, he scored and had a few solid hits.

#5 Leo Braillard, C (Undrafted): Braillard had four shots in the second period as he looked to keep Nikitin busy. He’s one of Switzerland’s better play drivers, but getting him to be a consistent threat has been a challenge. Still, it feels like whenever Switzerland needed someone to step up during the round-robin, Braillard was there.

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