The first quarterfinal game of the 2025 World Junior Championship (WJC) saw Sweden take on the tournament’s surprise team, Latvia. While Sweden seemingly dominated the game offensively, Latvia refused to go down without a fight and kept things close. But in the end, Sweden proved too much for the Latvians, pulling off a 3-2 victory to move on to the semifinals. A few things stood out from the game.
1: Linards Feldbergs Proved to Be the Real Deal
Entering the tournament, Linards Feldbergs was expected to play a key role on the Latvian roster after being a part of last year’s WJC team (he only played in one game.) In the team’s preliminary round play, Feldbergs proved to be a driving force to the team’s success, especially in their upset of Canada on Dec. 27 in their first game of the tournament. His strong play was evident throughout each game Latvia played and he started all of the team’s five games.
His strong play helped keep Latvia in the game once again against Sweden. The offense struggled to get much going outside of a few minutes in the second period and a few chances in the third, but with Feldbergs in between the pipes, they stood a chance until the final horn went. While they lost the game, he was Latvia’s best player on the ice from start to finish, making 47 saves in the loss.
2: Sweden Taking Their Foot Off the Gas Helped Latvia
After controlling the first period, Sweden needed to keep their foot on the gas to put a resilient and hardworking Latvia team away, but they failed to do so in the second period. They did control the pace of play for the majority of the period but could not cash in when they had the chance. While Feldbergs was undoubtedly a big reason why, Sweden had three power-play opportunities in the second period and could not convert once. This included not being able to take advantage of a five-on-three opportunity. Latvia killing that off seemingly gave them some momentum and energy, helping lead to the two goals they scored in the period (both by Washington Capitals prospect Eriks Mateiko).
Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship
For Sweden to make it beyond the semifinal round, they must cash in on the opportunities they are given. They possess the tournament’s top power-play unit, but as mentioned, they could not kick it into high gear in their win over Latvia. Getting better scoring chances will also be key to their further success in the tournament.
3: Latvia Left It All on the Ice
As the tournament’s surprise, Latvia proved they have the pieces to make noise again in next year’s tournament in Minneapolis. They had a young roster at this year’s tournament and left it all out there. They were by far one of the most challenging teams for anyone to play and proved they could never be counted out. In their loss to Sweden, they continued to lay their bodies on the line, getting into shooting lanes to block shots and shut down potential high-danger scoring chances. The way that the Latvians play is something many other teams can look at and try to replicate at any level of hockey. It is safe to say Latvia could be a team to watch out for in next year’s tournament if they can replace outgoing players and build off how they played in this year’s tournament.
Game Notes
- In the victory, Axel Sandin Pellikka (Detroit Red Wings) tallied his ninth point of the tournament and is sitting back at the top of the points leaderboard (as of this writing).
- Feldbergs made 210 saves on the 226 shots he faced in the tournament.
- Sweden’s puck movement proved to be yet again a challenge for their opponents, led by Sandin Pellikka, St. Louis Blues prospect Otto Stenberg, and Vancouver Canucks prospect Tom Willander.
What’s Next
With the loss, Latvia was eliminated from the tournament after a strong showing Sweden will take on the winner of the United States/Switzerland quarterfinal in the semifinals on Jan. 4.
