Kirill Lyapunov (2025 draft eligible) and Alexander Kim (2025 draft eligible) scored for Kazakhstan (0-0-0-2). Vladimir Nikitin (Ottawa Senators) made 17 saves on 26 shots. He was replaced during the first period by Jokhar Dudarkiyev (2025 draft eligible), who made five saves on 10 shots before Nikitin returned during the second.

Eriks Mateiko scored the lone goal of a shootout in the eighth round to give Latvia a 3-2 victory over Canada on Friday night in the world junior hockey championship.

With the IIHF World Junior Championship just around the corner, Team Latvia announced their final roster early on Wednesday morning.

Defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the current favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, was injured early in the first period of Team Canada’s round-robin game on Friday against Latvia during the World Juniors in Ottawa.

Canadian defenceman Matthew Schaefer will miss the rest of the world junior hockey championship. Schaefer was injured early in the first period of Canada's 3-2 shootout loss to Latvia last night after he crashed into the net.

Latvia defeated Canada at the World Junior Championship yesterday in a stunning turn of events. Canada didn't get blown out of the water, but the team they lost to makes it feel like they were. Matthew Schaefer had been injured after playing just 2:08.

Matthew Schaefer has dealt with adversity and heartache throughout his young life. One of the top prospects for the 2025 NHL draft must now overcome yet another hurdle. The 17-year-old defenceman will miss the rest of the world junior hockey championship after he was injured playing for Canada in Friday's stunning 3-2 shootout loss to Lativa.

A very scary scene took place in the first period of the preliminary game between Canada and Latvia at the World Junior Championship on Friday evening. Defenseman Matthew Schaefer was skating at full speed when,