United States 5, Latvia 1 — Danny Nelson (New York Islanders) scored two goals for the United States in preliminary-round play at Canadian Tire Centre.
“It was what we expected,” U.S. coach David Carle said. “They defend inside ice really well and I thought we showed some growth in some of our puck-management decisions in trying to get to the inside, and get more pucks there. So there’s some growth in our game. Was it perfect? No. But a lot of compliments to Latvia and how hard they played.”
James Hagens, a projected top-three pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, had two assists, and Hampton Slukynsky (Los Angeles Kings) made 25 saves for the United States (2-0-0-0), which moved into first place in Group A.
“We just stuck to it and it was awesome how we all stuck together throughout that game,” Hagens said. “[Slukynsky] played unreal and to be able to have a guy like that on your back end, that’s a huge help.”
Linards Feldbergs made 36 saves for Latvia (0-1-0-1). The 19-year-old made 55 saves in a stunning 3-2 shootout win against Canada in preliminary-round action on Friday in what many consider the biggest upset in World Juniors history. It was Latvia’s third preliminary-round win in the tournament’s history.
“It’s cool to get the goal-scoring going a little bit but [I] was more happy with how we played as a team and like how we came out with the win,” Nelson said. “Especially with how they played against Canada. Obviously, we knew they were going to play us hard, so we…
