World Juniors Day 5 Recap: Latvia continues miracle run with dramatic win over Germany

With the goaltender pulled once again, Team Germany actually managed to restore the tie just 20 seconds later when David Lewandowski (2025) scored his second goal of the tournament. But the Germans needed the full three points to avoid the relegation round, and their quarterfinal hopes were dashed when the Latvians held the 3-3 score until the final buzzer.

As expected, Team Latvia fully took over after regulation, recording all three shots in the extra frame. In the end, it was Mateiko who sealed the deal in overtime to give the Latvians their second win in three games at this year’s tournament. What a finish!

With one game remaining for both teams, Latvia and Finland will face off on New Years’ Eve in a battle for positioning in the quarterfinals. If the Latvians are able to win in regulation, they’ll pass the Finns for third place in Group A. Who saw that coming a week ago?

Best of the rest

• Guess what? Team Kazakhstan might end up avoiding relegation, too! The Kazakhs earned their first point of the preliminary round on Monday with a shocking, unforgettable comeback effort against Team Slovakia. Trailing 4-2, it looked like Kazakhstan was done for when Asanali Sarkenov (und.) received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for cross-checking with just 4:39 remaining in regulation. They needed a miracle. They got one. Davlat Nurkenov and Kirill Lyapunov, both undrafted, scored shorthanded goals less than three minutes apart — the latter coming in the final 30 seconds of the third period — to tie the game and force overtime. Maxim Strbak (BUF) ended up scoring the winner in the extra frame, but for the time being, the Kazakhs are one point ahead of Team Switzerland in the Group B standings. And guess which two teams will face off tomorrow: You guessed it: Kazakhstan and Switzerland.