Top players from Day 5 of the 2024 World Junior Championship
Norway is the first team off to the relegation game after losing to Switzerland, while Latvia finally scored – and it might pay off big – after beating Germany 6-2 in the evening game.
Here’s everything you need to know about the two games on Saturday:
Switzerland advances to quarterfinal as Norway is sent to relegation game
Norway is off to the relegation game after falling 6-2 to Switzerland.
Switzerland will have a chance to take third place in Group B on Tuesday if they manage to beat the Czechs in thei final round-robin game on Sunday. Norway will have an extended break, staying out of action until Thursday, Jan. 4 in a winner-takes-all relegation contest.
The Swiss scored first when Simon Meier beat Markus Stensrud up high at 6:05, but Norway would fight back. Goals from Martin Johnsen and Patrik Dalen gave them a 2-1 advantage into the first period, and, perhaps, the first bit of hope for the team on the outside looking in.
But a terrible second period for the Norwegians made things fall apart. Leo Braillard, Jonas Taibel, Rodwin Dionicio and Thierry Schild led the way with a four-goal second-period onslaught for Switzerland, putting the game out of reach. Dionicio scored his second of the game five minutes into the third, with both teams slowing down to close out the contest.
Here’s a look at the top performers for both teams:
Switzerland
#10 Jonas Taibel, C (Undrafted): It took a while, especially since he has played well, but Taibel finally scored his first goal of the game late in the second period. He had three points total, all coming in the three consecutive goals the Swiss scored to close out the second period. It came after Taibel led all players with three chances in the first, doing some good work in front of the net. He wasn’t afraid to get feisty, and he battled hard to win the puck along the boards. It’s the type of effort you’d hope for from a 19-year-old first-liner.
#3 Daniil Ustinkov, D (2024 NHL Draft): After a quiet first two games, the top Swiss prospect had a two-assist contest for his most productive effort with the U-20 team. He can get caught trying to do a bit too much too often, but his offensive IQ was on display today. He’s good in his own zone, but I thought his two-way game looked great, especially as his ice time saw a boost with Leon Muggli’s ejection.
#4 Rodwin Dionicio, D (Anaheim Ducks): I know Dionicio’s game is high-risk, high-reward, and that might not work in the NHL. But here, he landed hits, blocked shots, and even scored. His offensive play is one of the reasons Anaheim picked him as an overager, but it took a while for him to display that. Today, he picked his shot, wired it home and helped put the game out of reach. He added a second goal for good measure early in the third.
#17 Miles Muller, RW (Undrafted): Muller’s game is about getting himself in shooting positions. He had five shots in the first 40 minutes alone, and it helped to contribute to two assists. Muller has been one of the few bright spots throughout the tournament for the Swiss, but today, he looked on the top of his game as he controlled the pace with the puck.
Norway
#10 Stian Solberg, D (2024 NHL Draft): Solberg started off a bit ugly, but I feel like the assist on Johnsen’s goal helped him find his confidence. He played 10:36 in the second period – over half the frame – with some power-play time mixed in. It was the first time since early in the game against the United States that Solberg wasn’t pinned to his own zone, and I feel like we saw a who was moving well and get in front of scoring chances.
#5 Gabriel Koch, D (Undrafted): Koch looked like the only player who was consistently engaged, getting six shots on net and nabbing a secondary assist on the go-ahead goal in the first. He’s a smart defenseman who doesn’t make many mistakes with the puck, and he had a lot of work to do early.
Latvia keeps quarterfinal chances alive with 6-2 win over Germany
Cue the drama.
Latvia needed to beat Germany by at least three goals to give them a goal-differential advantage over Germany, and they did so with a 6-2 win in their final game of the preliminary round.
For Latvia to avoid heading to the relegation game against Norway, they’ll need Germany to not grab any points against Canada on Sunday. Then, Latvia and Germany would both have three points after Germany’s upset win over Finland, with Latvia then having the tiebreaker.
No matter what, Germany needs a point tomorrow to knock Latvia out of the quarterfinal. If Germany gets at least an overtime or shootout loss against Canada, they’ll join Finland as the last two teams to qualify in from Group A.
So, no pressure. But after Latvia failed to score a single goal in their first three games, all eyes turn to Germany to see what they can do on Sunday to close out the final preliminary round game
Germany
#13 Veit Oswald, LW (Undrafted): Oswald has been one of Germany’s best wingers in this tournament, drawing some potential overage NHL Draft interest. He had a couple of good looks until he finally scored before eventually getting ejected for a dangerous hit. Still, the fact that he’s almost always involved in Germany’s high-quality chances says something.
Latvia
#1 Deivs Rolovs, G (Undrafted): Rolovs needed to be perfect today, and he saved his best performance for when it mattered most. He made seven stops in the first to keep his team up front and besides the brutal goal allowed in the second, Rolovs was on the top of his game. No matter what happens to Latvia next, they need Rolovs to have the best game of his career.
#9 Eriks Mateiko, RW (2024 NHL Draft): If anyone was going to score in the first period, it was Mateiko, the forward with NHL potential. The 6-foot-5 winger scored Latvia’s first goal and then screened Philipp Dietl for the 2-0 goal, putting Latvia far ahead. It took a while for Mateiko to find his footing, but he’s a mid-round prospect I know a few teams have quite a bit of interest in.
#22 Sandis Vilmanis, RW (Florida Panthers): The Panthers draft pick had a two-goal game, giving some extra comfort in Latvia’s goal-differential padding. They needed that, and so did Vilmanis, who was as snakebitten as anyone in a tournament where the Latvians were relying on him. They’ll need more of that moving forward.
#16 Peteris Bulans, D (Undrafted): An injury-shortened 2022-23 season prevented Bulans from getting selected, but I wonder if he gets another look this time around. He played his best game with a goal and an assist today while being difficult to take the puck off of when skating around the ice. He’s a good two-way defenseman with no true standout qualities but doesn’t have any major glaring stylistic weaknesses, either.
#6 Darels Uljanskis, D (2024 NHL Draft): Uljanskis is another I expect to get drafted this year. He’s a smart offensive defenseman who finally managed to get on the scoresheet with an assist, but his play reads were top-notch. From a two-way perspective, this was Uljanskis’ coming out party at this level.
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