On Tap: Day 2 of 2025 World Junior Championship

Friday is the second day of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Ottawa.

On Tap for Day 2

All games on NHL Network in U.S., TSN in Canada

Slovakia vs. Switzerland (1 p.m. ET) -- Slovakia (0-0-0-1) will look to rebound following a 5-2 loss to Sweden in the World Juniors opener on Thursday. Dalibor Dvorsky (St. Louis Blues) and Daniel Alexander Jencko (2025 draft eligible) each scored for Slovakia, who haven't won a World Junior medal since a bronze in 2015. Switzerland (0-0-0-1), which avoided relegation last year with a win against Norway in the preliminary round, lost 5-1 to Czechia on Thursday. Leo Braillard (2025 draft eligible), who scored one goal in five games at the 2024 World Juniors, scored the only goal for his country in the opener. He has 12 goals in 24 games with Lethbridge of the Western Hockey League this season.

Finland vs. Germany (3:30 p.m. ET) -- Finland (0-0-0-1) lost 4-0 to Canada on Thursday so it'll be looking to rebound in a big way Friday. Finland finished fourth at the 2024 WJC and fifth in 2023. The country's last of five gold medals all-time came at the 2019 WJC in Vancouver. Julius Sumpf (2025 draft eligible), David Lewandowski (2025 draft eligible), Lenny Boos (2025 draft eligible) and Timo Ruckdaschel (2025 draft eligible) scored for Germany (0-0-0-1) in a 10-4 loss to the United States. Sumpf (6-1, 190) earned a W rating on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch list and is a projected sixth- or seventh-round pick in the 2025 draft.

Kazakhstan vs. Sweden (5 p.m. ET; NHLN will air at 11 p.m. ET) -- Sweden (1-0-0-0) will look to win its second straight in Group B after captain Axel Sandin-Pellikka (Detroit Red Wings), a defenseman, had a hat trick and four points in a 5-2 win against Slovakia. Otto Stenberg (St. Louis Blues), Felix Unger Sorum (Carolina Hurricanes) and David Granberg (2025 draft eligible) each had two assists for Sweden, which lost 6-2 to the United States in the gold-medal game at the 2024 WJC on home ice in Gothenburg. Kazakhstan, which returns to the top level of under-20 play after winning the 2024 WJC Division I Group A tournament, will play its first game. It will have 14 players back from that team, led by goalie Vladimir Nikitin (Ottawa Senators), who was voted the tournament's top goalie. The country is making its first appearance at the top level of the World Juniors since 2020.

Canada vs. Latvia (7:30 p.m. ET) -- Canada (1-0-0-0) took care of business in its tournament opener with a 4-0 win against Finland on Thursday. Carter George (Los Angeles Kings) made 31 saves in his World Juniors debut, and defenseman Matthew Schaefer, a candidate to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, had a goal and an assist in his first WJC game. Forward Gavin McKenna, who turned 17 on Dec. 20 and is the youngest player on Canada's roster, scored the first goal at 19:08 of the first period. He's the early favorite to be the No. 1 pick of the 2026 NHL Draft. Latvia will play its first game of the tournament. The country scored eight goals in five games and were shut out three straight games at the 2024 WJC but reached the quarterfinals after a 6-2 win against Germany in the preliminary round. A 7-2 loss to the United States left them with an eighth-place finish.