Wednesday is the second day of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Gothenburg, Sweden.
On Tap for Day 2
All games on NHL Network in U.S., TSN in Canada
Slovakia vs. Switzerland (6 a.m. ET) -- Slovakia (1-0-0-0) will look to win its second straight in Group B in Frolundaborg. Adam Gajan, voted the top goalie of the 2023 WJC, made 27 saves, and Servac Petrovsky had two goals and an assist in Slovakia's 6-2 win against Czechia on Tuesday. Defenseman Rodwin Dionicio (Anaheim Ducks), who has 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 26 games with Windsor and Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League this season, will make his third tournament appearance for Switzerland, which plays its opener Wednesday. Switzerland finished seventh at the 2023 WJC, with overtime wins against Finland (3-2), Latvia (3-2), and Slovakia (4-3).
Finland vs. Germany (8:30 a.m. ET) -- Germany will play its first game in the tournament in Group A in Scandinavium after managing to avoid relegation the past four events. Seven players return from the 2023 team that finished eighth, among them defenseman Philip Sinn, who tied for the team lead with three points (one goal, two assists) and averaged 18:46 of ice time in five games. Finland (0-0-0-1) was outshot 29-26 in a 5-2 loss to Canada in its tournament opener on Tuesday and will look to rebound in an attempt to remain in contention for medal-round play. "We have to get ready for [Germany]," said Finland defenseman Kalle Kangas (Penguins). "We have to play simple, get shots to the net, and score. We play one game at a time, even though we are thinking about the end of the tournament. One game at a time for now."
Norway vs. Czechia (11 a.m. ET) -- Czechia (0-0-0-1), which lost to Canada in overtime at the 2023 WJC, will look to rebound after a 6-2 loss to Slovakia in preliminary-round action at Frolundaborg on Tuesday. The status of Czechia defenseman Adam Jiricek is in doubt after the 17-year-old defenseman was injured Tuesday. Norway played admirably in a 4-1 loss against the United States on Tuesday, with Markus Stensrud making 40 saves. "We need to be ready to go from the start against Norway," said Czechia defenseman Tomas Hamara (Ottawa Senators). "[The loss to Slovakia] was a good wake-up call for us." Norway (0-0-0-1) is playing in the top division of the tournament for the first time since 2014.
Latvia vs. Canada (1:30 p.m. ET) -- Canada (1-0-0-0) will look to build upon a 5-2 victory against Finland in a preliminary-round game at Scandinavium on Tuesday. Latvia (0-0-0-1), which lost 6-0 to Sweden on Tuesday, has six players back from the team that swept Austria in the best-of-3 relegation round last year to remain at the top level of the World Juniors.
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