World Junior Championship roundup: Latvia tops Denmark, clinches berth in quarterfinals

Latvia 6, Denmark 3: Alberts Smits, a prime prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft, had a aim and two assists for Latvia, which clinched a spot within the quarterfinals with its first win in a Group B recreation at 3M Arena at Mariucci on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

It’s the third straight match Latvia has reached the quarterfinals.

“It feels amazing,” Smits stated. “That was our goal and now we have completed it.”

Bruno Osmanis (2026 eligible) had a aim and an help, and Olivers Murnieks (2026 eligible) had two assists for Latvia (1-0-1-1). Nils Maurins (2026 eligible) made 9 saves.

“First two games you’re the complete underdog,” Latvia coach Artis Abols stated. “You steal the point against Canada (2-1 overtime loss on Saturday). Game against Finland (8-0 loss on Sunday), it was what it was, we were out of gas. Today, the opponent is not that high level, but there’s pressure because that means a lot. Once again, it’s not easy to play, but the good for us today was the power play. We scored three goals on the power play, and good guys who stood against the six (on five) and blocked a lot of shots.”

William Bundgaard had a aim and two assists, and Oliver Larsen had a aim and an help for Denmark (0-0-0-4). Anton Wilde made 36 saves.

Krisjanis Sarts (2026 eligible) put Latvia forward 1-0 at 16:52 of the primary interval when he scored from the slot off the rebound of a shot by Osmanis.

Smits made it 2-0 with a power-play aim from the left face-off circle at 3:00 of the second interval.

Larsen made it 2-1 at 11:37, scoring from the highest of the precise circle with teammate Tristan Petersen (2026 eligible) offering a display screen.

Markuss Sieradzkis (2026 eligible) tipped in Smits’ shot for a power-play aim to offer Latvia a 3-1 lead at 14:54.

Antons Macijevskis (2026 eligible) pushed the result in 4-1 at 16:43 on a shot from the highest of the precise face-off circle.

Bundgaard scored on a one-timer from the hash marks to make it 4-2 at 18:31.

Osmanis made it 5-2 at 9:52 of the third interval, scoring on the ability play from the highest of the face-off circles.

It was the third aim scored on the ability play for Latvia towards a fatigued Denmark group, which was taking part in the second recreation of a back-to-back following a 9-1 loss to Canada on Monday.

“You could see that they’re not (as) fast as they were yesterday, but that’s the schedule, and you cannot do anything about it,” Smits stated of Denmark. “The power play, we were working on that power play every day, and now it finally worked out.”

Anton Linde (2026 eligible) scored with the goalie pulled for an additional attacker to make it 5-3 at 18:43, however Kristers Ansons (2026 draft eligible) scored an empty-net aim to make it 6-3 at 19:59.

“Obviously, we had some penalties that kind of killed us and killed the momentum of our game, but we can be proud of the way we played,” Denmark assistant coach Mikkel Boedker stated. “We can be proud of the way we try to handle things.”

Latvia will end its preliminary spherical schedule towards Czechia on Wednesday (3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN). Germany and Denmark will play within the relegation recreation on Friday (12:30 p.m. ET).