Less than 24 hours after pulling off an improbable victory over Canada, the Latvians were back at it against the star-studded United States. Linards Feldbergs got the start for Latvia once more, a near-impossible task on a back-to-back after playing 65 minutes plus the shootout. Hampton Slukynsky made his World Juniors debut in net for the Americans, stopping 26 of 27 en route to a 5-1 US victory.
The US got off to a quick start as Danny Nelson buried one in tight to give them a 1-0 lead less than two minutes in. But the Latvians took away the middle of the ice and visibly frustrated the Americans for the rest of the period. While the score remained 1-0 at the horn, it was clear that the Latvians weren’t going to go away too easily.
Just a minute into the second, the Latvians were on a 2-on-0 and Slukynsky came up with a huge stop on Eriks Mateiko. Latvia continued to play well, even outshooting the US 12-9 at one point. But Daniels Serkins took a high stick and Ryan Leonard got his first of the tournament on the ensuing power play to double the lead.
Leonard drives it in! #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/JmhLIi4gGI
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) December 28, 2024
Then Zeev Buium scored a few minutes later, effectively sucking the air out of the exhausted Latvian squad. For good measure, Nelson scored again to make it 4-0 with 5.3 seconds left in the frame.
The Latvians got a well-deserved goal 8:22 into the third, as Davids Livsics put home a funny bounce to make it 4-1. But Max Plante answered back for the Americans to bring their four-goal lead back. That’s where the score stood at the final horn.
The US will be back in action tomorrow at 2:30 PM ET to take on Finland; the Latvians will get a much-needed day off and then face Germany on Monday at 3:30 PM ET.
