Sunday is the sixth day of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Gothenburg, Sweden.
On Tap for Day 6
All games on NHL Network in the U.S., TSN in Canada
United States vs. Slovakia (6 a.m. ET; NHLN, TSN)
The winner will earn the top seed in Group B at Frolundaborg.
"I don't know why everyone is surprised about Slovakia, because they have 10 players who are playing their third World Juniors. They're experienced and good," TSN WJC analyst Craig Button said.
Slovakia (3-0-0-0) has won three straight games to begin the WJC for the first time in its history and will try to carry that momentum against the United States behind the goaltending of Adam Gajan (Chicago Blackhawks). The 19-year-old has a 2.00 goals-against average and .934 save percentage with one shutout in three wins. He was named the tournament's best goalie at the 2023 WJC with a 2.40 GAA and .936 save percentage, including making 33 saves in a 6-3 win against the U.S. in the preliminary round.
"He's a super talented goalie," U.S. goalie Jacob Fowler said of Gajan. "He's a big reason for their success in this tournament, and Slovakia's success in general. We have to try to get some traffic in front of him to make it hard on him."
Offensively, Slovakia has been led by Servac Petrovsky (Minnesota Wild; five goals, three assists), Peter Repcik (three goals, two assists), Dalibor Dvorsky (St. Louis Blues; two goals, two assists) and Filip Meser (Montreal Canadiens; six assists). Defenseman Maxim Strbak (Buffalo Sabres; one goal, five assists) has been a force on the back end. Slovakia, which seeks its first medal since 2015 (bronze), has the best power play in the tournament at 46.2 percent (6-for-13).
The United States (2-1-0-0) is one of two countries yet to allow a power-play goal in the tournament (7-for-7). Goalie Trey Augustine and defenseman Seamus Casey each missed a 4-3 shootout win against Czechia on Friday with an illness and are questionable. Offensively, Frank Nazar III (Blackhawks) has six points (all assists) and Gavin Brindley (Columbus Blue Jackets; four goals, one assist), Jimmy Snuggerud (Blues; four goals, one assist) and Cutter Gauthier (Philadelphia Flyers; five assists) each has five points. Defensively, Lane Hutson (Canadiens) has two assists and has averaged a team-high 22:31 of ice time. Fowler has a 2.88 GAA and .872 save percentage in consecutive wins.
"The U.S., on paper, looked like a favorite entering this tournament. But when you watch them play, to date, it hasn't been sharp, hasn't been crisp," Button said. "It's been a lot of what I call self-inflicted wounds in their play, giveaways, loose play in front of their net. They haven't been able to extend really strong consistent play through the course of 60 minutes, and if you want to win the gold medal, you're going to have to do that."
Sweden vs. Finland (8:30 a.m. ET; NHLN, TSN3)
Sweden (3-0-0-0) has outscored the opposition 13-0 and is the top seed in Group A at Scandinavium. They have been led on offense by forward Otto Stenberg (St. Louis Blues; three goals, two assists), but defenseman Theo Lindstein (Blues; five assists) has been a lynchpin for the host country with Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks), Axel Sandin Pellikka (Detroit Red Wings), Tom Willander (Canucks) and Mattias Havelid (San Jose Sharks). Goalie Hugo Havelid (2024 NHL Draft eligible), Mattias' twin brother, has stopped all 41 shots faced in two wins.
Finland (1-0-0-2) won 4-0 against Latvia on Friday following a 5-2 loss to Canada on Tuesday and 4-3 loss to Germany on Wednesday. Forward Jere Lassila has five points (two goals, three assists) for Finland, which is 4-for-14 on the power play (28.6 percent) and 9-for-10 on the penalty kill (90 percent).
Czechia vs. Switzerland (11 a.m. ET; NHLN, TSN3)
The winner will earn the third seed in the Group B pool at Frolundaborg.
Czechia (1-0-1-1) would like to establish some momentum after a 4-3 shootout loss to the United States on Friday. Offensively, Eduard Sale (Seattle Kraken; three goals, two assists), Jiri Kulich (Buffalo Sabres; three goals, two assists) and Matyas Melovsky (2024 draft eligible; five assists) have thrived for Czechia. Goalie Michael Hrabal (Arizona Coyotes), the likely starter, has a 3.24 GAA and .886 save percentage in three games.
Switzerland (1-0-0-2) won 6-2 against Norway on Saturday behind captain Jonas Taibel (2024 draft eligible), who had one goal and three assists, and goalie Alessio Beglieri, who made 19 saves. Switzerland finished seventh at the 2023 WJC, including overtime wins against Finland (3-2), Latvia (3-2) and Slovakia (4-3) in group play.
Canada vs. Germany (1:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN4)
Canada (2-0-0-1), the two-time defending tournament champion, lost 2-0 to Sweden on Friday and is the second seed in the Group A pool at Scandinavium.
"Canada's big problem right now is establishing [an] offensive-zone presence and cycle game of forechecking," Button said. "They were not able to do any of that against a very strategically sound Sweden team. That, to me, is the problem and now becomes a focus of the solution for the Canada coaching staff."
Canada is led by center Macklin Celebrini, an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch list and the projected No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The 17-year-old has six points (two goals, four assists), nine shots on goal and has averaged 14:30 of ice time in three games. Defensively, Maveric Lamoureux (Coyotes; one goal, two assists) averages a team-high 24:06 of ice time, and Denton Mateychuk (Blue Jackets; three assists) averages 23:32. Goalie Mathis Rousseau (2024 draft eligible) has been one of the biggest surprises of the tournament with a 1.33 GAA and .944 save percentage in three starts for Canada.
Germany (1-0-0-2) has lost two straight after notching the biggest upset win of the tournament on Wednesday, 4-3 against Finland. It lost 6-2 to Latvia on Saturday; Latvia had been outscored 20-0 in its three previous games. Germany needs at least one point against Canada (win or overtime loss) to avoid playing in the relegation game against Norway on Thursday at Scandinavium (5 a.m. ET).
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