The second day of the 2026 World Junior Championship on Saturday, Dec. 27, had another full day of action. The first game was between Germany, who lost to the United States the night prior, and Slovakia, who lost to Sweden the day before. Each team looked to get their first win of this year’s tournament. Linus Vieillard was in the net for Germany, while Michal Prádel was in the net for Slovakia.
Related: 2026 World Juniors Day 2 Preview: Canada Looks For Revenge Against Latvia
The game started out evenly matched until halfway through the first when Slovakia jumped on the board. They built on their lead in the second, and although Germany did get a goal, they couldn’t catch up to Slovakia, who took the 4-1 win.
Game Recap
Slovakia scored first with a goal from Tomáš Chrenko about halfway through the first period. The lone assist went to Adam Nemec. Slovakia added to their lead in the final minute of the period with a power play goal from Chrenko, his second goal of the game. Nemec and Andreas Straka assisted him to make it 2-0. That was the final goal of the first period, and Slovakia carried the lead into the second period.
Slovakia extended their lead to 3-0 with a power play goal from Chrenko, who earned a natural hat trick. Michal Svrček and Luka Radivojevič assisted him. That was the only goal of the second period, and Slovakia took the lead into the third.
Germany got on the board in the third period with a goal from Dustin Willhöft that got his team back within two. David Lewandowski assisted him. Slovakia responded with an empty net goal by Adam Beluško to seal the win 4-1.
After playing both Friday, Dec. 26 and Saturday, Dec. 27, Germany and Slovakia will have Sunday, Dec. 28 off. Germany will be back in action on Monday, Dec. 29, when they face Sweden. Slovakia will also be back on Monday when they take on USA.
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