Saturday is the fifth day of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held at Scandinavium and Frolundaborg in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Day 5 games
Switzerland 6, Norway 2 -- Jonas Taibel had a goal and three assists in a Group B game at Frolundaborg.
Miles Muller, Simone Terraneo and Danill Ustinkov each had two assists, and Alessio Beglieri made 19 saves for Switzerland (1-0-0-2), which is currently fourth in Group B.
Patrik Dalen and Martin Johnsen each scored for Norway (0-0-0-4), which has been outscored 26-8. It is playing in the top division at the WJC for the first time since 2014.
Switzerland scored four goals on 13 shots in the second period.
Taibel made it 3-2 on a snap shot from the right face-off circle at 10:16 of the second. Rodwin Dionicio (Anaheim Ducks) pushed it to 4-2 with a power-play goal from the right circle at 11:53.
Switzerland concludes its preliminary-round schedule against Czechia on Sunday (11 a.m. ET). Norway will next play in the relegation game at Scandinavium on Thursday (5 a.m. ET).
Latvia 6, Germany 2 -- Latvia not only won its first game, but it scored for the first time in four tournament games in a Group A game at Scandinavium.
Sandis Vilmanis (Florida Panthers) had two goals and an assist, Peteris Bulans had a goal and an assist, and Dans Locmelis (Boston Bruins) had three assists for Latvia (1-0-0-3), which scored six times on 28 shots after entering with no goals on 65 shots in its previous three games. Deivs Rolovs made 21 saves.
Norwin Panocha (Buffalo Sabres) and Samuel Schindler each scored for Germany (1-0-0-2), which has lost two straight following a 4-3 upset win against Finland on Wednesday.
Latvia scored three goals on 10 shots in the first period.
Eriks Mateiko, a B-rated skater on Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch list and projected second- or third-round pick in the 2024 draft, gave Latvia a 1-0 lead 2:46 into the first period.
Mateiko has 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) in 28 games with Saint John of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League this season.
"It means a lot for our team, not just for me (to score the first goal)," Mateiko told TSN. "I think for all of Latvia ... we couldn't score in three games, so I think that first goal was a good start and we just had to keep working from that."
Germany will play its final preliminary-round match against Canada on Sunday (1:30 p.m. ET) and needs at least one point (win or overtime loss) to avoid playing in the relegation game against Norway on Thursday (5 a.m. ET). If Germany gets at least a point, Latvia will play in the relegation game.
