Latvia Earns Spot in Quarterfinals With 4-3 Overtime Win Over Germany – The Hockey Writers World Junior Hockey Championship Latest News, Analysis & More

Germany and Latvia locked horns in a big matchup on Day 5 of the 2025 World Junior Championship. Germany looked to earn their first tournament win and stay alive in Group A, while Latvia needed at least a point in the game to get the fourth spot. In a back-and-forth game, Latvia pulled off a 4-3 overtime win.

Game Recap

It did not take long for Germany to kick off the scoring, with Simon Seidl cashing in on a quick shot off an offensive zone faceoff win to put his team up 1-0 19 seconds in. Germany would keep Latvia goaltender Linards Feldbergs busy throughout the first 20 minutes, firing 14 shots at him. Making his third start of the tournament, Feldbergs was more than up to the challenge and kept his team in the game as they struggled to get much going offensively, only getting four shots on German goaltender Linus Viellard as they took a 1-0 deficit into the second period. The lead for Germany marked the first time they have led at any point in the tournament.

While not scoring as quickly as they did in the first period, Germany jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks again to an offensive zone power play faceoff leading to the puck making its way to the point. Edwin Tropmann fired a puck through traffic that Feldbergs could not see, beating him high blocker side. The two-goal lead was short-lived, though, as Latvia answered back 33 seconds later as they were the beneficiary of an offensive zone faceoff, with Eriks Mateiko (Washington Capitals) scoring on a one-timer from the dot to beat Viellard to bring the score to a 2-1 German lead. Latvia’s offense seemed to get going as the period progressed and ended up winning the shot battle 11-8.

A back-and-forth start to the third period, with neither team getting many high-danger chances for the better part of five minutes, ended with Germany getting a strong chance on the net that was knocked away with a spectacular play from Latvia defenseman Davids Livsics. Latvia’s persistence paid off at around the seven-minute mark when a broken play off an offensive zone faceoff ended up on the stick of Bruno Osmanis, who fired a knuckler that Viellard could not get to, tying the game at 2-2.

The back-and-forth play continued after the Latvia goal until they took a delay-of-game penalty with just under four minutes remaining. The Germany power play put a ton of pressure on Latvia’s penalty kill, but Feldbergs stood up to the challenge, making multiple big saves. Viellard was pulled with just under three minutes left to try and win the game in regulation (they had to so they could stay alive for the fourth spot in the group), but Latvia scored an empty netter from Olivers Murnieks to put the Latvians in the lead 4-3. The Germans would not give up, though, as David Lewandowski scored a game-tying goal less than 30 seconds later to once again make the game deadlocked, this time 4-4. Villiard once again was pulled (just under two minutes left) but could not tally a goal.

Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship

With the game heading to overtime, Latvia earned their spot in the Quarterfinals with a point, meaning Germany will play in the relegation round for the second straight year, against the fifth-place team of Group B (Kazakhstan or Switzerland). In overtime, Mateiko won the game for Latvia on a shot from the slot on a two-on-one rush. The win marks the first time they have ever won two games in a single WJC tournament. Feldbergs was once again outstanding in the net for Latvia, stopping 36 of the 39 shots he faced.

Latvia will hit the ice tomorrow when they take on Finland. Germany’s preliminary round has concluded, and they await who they will face in the relegation round.