World Junior Championship roundup: Nelson’s 2 goals help U.S. defeat Latvia | NHL.com

United States 5, Latvia 1 — Danny Nelson (New York Islanders) scored two goals for the United States in preliminary-round play at Canadian Tire Centre.

“It was what we expected,” U.S. coach David Carle said. “They defend inside ice really well and I thought we showed some growth in some of our puck-management decisions in trying to get to the inside, and get more pucks there. So there’s some growth in our game. Was it perfect? No. But a lot of compliments to Latvia and how hard they played.”

James Hagens, a projected top-three pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, had two assists, and Hampton Slukynsky (Los Angeles Kings) made 25 saves for the United States (2-0-0-0), which moved into first place in Group A.

“We just stuck to it and it was awesome how we all stuck together throughout that game,” Hagens said. “[Slukynsky] played unreal and to be able to have a guy like that on your back end, that’s a huge help.”

Linards Feldbergs made 36 saves for Latvia (0-1-0-1). The 19-year-old made 55 saves in a stunning 3-2 shootout win against Canada in preliminary-round action on Friday in what many consider the biggest upset in World Juniors history. It was Latvia’s third preliminary-round win in the tournament’s history.

“It’s cool to get the goal-scoring going a little bit but [I] was more happy with how we played as a team and like how we came out with the win,” Nelson said. “Especially with how they played against Canada. Obviously, we knew they were going to play us hard, so we ultimately just wanted to come away with the win and that was the most important thing.”

Latvia has lost all seven of its WJC games against the United States dating to 2010, including four preliminary-round losses by a combined 28-5.

Nelson gave the United States a 1-0 lead at 1:58 of the first period on a snap shot from the slot.

“We’re not going to look for excuses; we were not able to find a way to win tonight,” Latvia coach Artis Abols said. “We had the chances. We started slow, which you could expect. We didn’t let them have easy chances but we gave them a gift first goal for sure. That’s a bad goal. Beginning of the second we came out with a good energy, we had two breakaways. We needed to score.”

Slukynsky made 12 saves in the second period. The 19-year-old, who plays for Western Michigan University, made a left-pad save against Markuss Sieradzkis (2025 eligible) at 1:00 of the second period off a 2-on-0 breakout by Latvia.

“It was 1-0 and, if they score, it’s 1-1 and the place erupts and you never know what’s going to happen,” Slukynsky said. “So to make that save, and then to get that second, third, fourth goal … felt really good.”

Ryan Leonard (Washington Capitals) then made it 2-0 with a power-play goal from the left post at 5:08.

“That was huge, especially to kind of get our power play rolling,” Hagens said of Leonard’s goal, on which he had the primary assist. “He was at the right spot and to be able to have our captain step up like that, that was huge for us.”

Slukynsky made a left pad save against Valdis Dommers (2025 eligible), who attempted a backhand in the slot, at 9:25.

Zeev Buium (Minnesota Wild) gave the U.S. a 3-0 lead at 11:13. He scored his first of the tournament on a snap shot from the right side of the net after Hagens fed him from the point.

Nelson made it 4-0 at 19:54 with a power-play goal on a backhand from the slot.

David Livsics (2025 eligible) pulled Latvia within 4-1 at 8:22 of the third period, scoring from the slot after the puck caromed off the end boards.

Max Plante (Detroit Red Wings) converted a 2-on-1 off a pass from Teddy Stiga (Nashville Predators) at 15:31 for the 5-1 final.

“They are committed as anyone to blocking shots, getting in lanes, defending the inside, playing firm at their net,” Carle said of Latvia. “So you’re trying to change angles and switch things around to be able to get pucks through and they don’t make it easy.”

The United States, the defending World Juniors champion, will next play Finland on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN4). Latvia plays Germany on Monday (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN).