United States vs. Latvia (3:30 p.m. ET) -- Latvia (0-1-0-0) scored the biggest upset in the history of the World Junior Championship on Friday with a stunning 3-2 shootout win against host Canada at Canadian Tire Centre. Linards Feldbergs (2025 eligible) made 55 saves and Eriks Mateiko (Washington Capitals) scored the only goal in an eight-round shootout to give Latvia just its third preliminary-round win in tournament history and first against Canada. Feldbergs, who played through cramps during the shootout, said he would be ready to play against the United States (1-0-0-0) if given the chance.
"The win against Canada meant partly a lot and partly nothing because two points doesn't give us nothing," Latvia coach Artis Abols said. "I'm very proud because you know the stats for Team Latvia at the Under-20 World Juniors … it's just our third win in 40 games. We need at least two more points and the U.S. is the same level opponent (as Canada). We are happy, but need to start preparing for [Saturday]."
Latvia 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. The United States, meanwhile, will look to continue to build momentum it gained after a 10-4 win against Germany on Thursday. The All-Boston College line of Gabe Perreault (two goals, one assist), James Hagens (two goals, two assists) and Ryan Leonard (two assists) combined for nine points in the victory, and defenseman Cole Hutson had five assists, one short of the U.S. record (six assists in one game) by Doug Weight in 1991.
"We liked how we broke the puck out," U.S. coach David Carle said. "We had some neutral zone turnovers and felt we knew during the game that that was an issue, and we got away with it, and we need to clean that part of our game up. Did some good things to score 10 goals, but we're trying to continue to get better, learn and grow while winning."
