The World Juniors opened on Boxing Day with four exciting games, with the tournament’s top four teams all picking up victories. With four more games on the docket for Day 2, Switzerland made their tournament debut, while Latvia looked to upset Canada for a second straight year. Here’s how the day’s action unfolded.

Both teams entered the game coming off losses on opening day, leaving little time to dwell on the disappointment. With a win all but guaranteeing a quarterfinal berth, the stakes were high.

After pushing Sweden to the limit in their opener, Slovakia wasted no time getting back to business and capitalized on some German penalty issues. Eighteen-year-old Tomáš Chrenko led the way with a natural hat trick, scoring twice in the first period before completing the feat midway through the second – all goals being on the powerplay.

Germany got on the board in the third period when Saskatoon Blades forward Dustin Willhoft turned on the jets, blew past the Slovak defence and finished with a nice goal. Slovakia added an insurance marker late to seal a valuable 4-1 victory.

Germany now gets a day off before facing Sweden and Switzerland on Dec. 29 and 30, games in which they’ll likely need to steal a win to avoid a potential relegation matchup.

Two games into the tournament, Canada once again stumbled out of the gate. Latvia came out determined to prove last year’s upset win was no fluke, and at times Canada appeared willing to help. Multiple turnovers led to four quality scoring chances for the Latvians, though Canadian goaltender Jack Ivankovic stood tall and kept the scoresheet clean. Latvia thought it had opened the scoring, but the goal was reviewed and overturned due to a kicking motion. Canada failed to capitalize on a late first-period power play, and the opening frame ended scoreless.

Early in the second period, Zayne Parekh took a high hit along the boards. The Latvian player was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Parekh appeared none the worse for wear and did not miss a shift. On the ensuing five-minute power play, Canada generated just three shots, but the most important one came from Flames prospect Cole Reschny. Reschny walked into the middle of the ice and snapped home the game’s opening goal to give Canada a 1-0 lead.

Canada played with some fire when Ben Danford took a double-minor penalty for high-sticking. Canada rolled just two forward pairs for the entire four minutes but successfully killed off the penalty to keep its lead intact. The remainder of the period was relatively quiet, and Canada headed into the third period up by one.

The opening half of the third period was uneventful. As the clock ticked down, Canada began to generate chances, including a shot off the crossbar, but couldn’t find the insurance goal. Then déjà vu struck. Just like last year, Latvia found a late equalizer in the third period to stun the Canadians. A last-minute Canadian power play failed to produce a regulation winner, sending Canada to overtime for the second straight year — this time with the man advantage.

On the power play in overtime, Canada created a couple good looks before Michael Hage buried a one-timer to seal the victory and allow the entire country to exhale.

Full credit goes to Latvia, which has been a thorn in Canada’s side over the past two years. The Latvians blocked shots and clogged the neutral zone. It may not be the most entertaining style of hockey, but it has proven effective. Latvian goaltender Nils Maurins stopped 34 of 36 shots and was a major reason Latvia stayed in the game.

It was a strong bounce-back performance for Cole Reschny. Though he was moved from the third line to the fourth and saw reduced five-on-five minutes, he was impactful on special teams. He won key face-offs on the penalty kill and played a significant role in killing off the double minor. On the power play, he scored Canada’s opening goal in the second period and further established himself as one of the team’s most trusted face-off options. Reschny was sent out repeatedly for critical draws, including the face-off in overtime that helped set up the game-winning goal. He led Canada in face-offs, taking 13 draws and won nine of them – a stat line that should excite Flames fans.

Zayne Parekh was Canada’s best player in a sluggish first period and continued to play at a high level throughout the game, creating multiple scoring chances. He led the team in ice time for the second straight game, logging just over 23 minutes and firing four shots on goal. Parekh played the full power play late in the third period and again in overtime, cementing his role as the go-to option when Canada needs offence. He recorded an assist for his third point of the tournament.

Canada now gets a day off before facing Denmark on Dec. 29. The Canadians will look to rediscover their offensive touch in what should be the easiest game of group play — though at this tournament, no win feels easy anymore.

Switzerland entered the game intent on silencing the home crowd and did a pretty good job on keeping things under control. The Americans held the shot advantage in the first period, but the game remained tied heading into the second.

The pace picked up in the middle frame as the Americans broke the deadlock just over a minute in. Switzerland responded midway through the period to tie the game, but the stalemate was short-lived. Will Zellers scored his third goal of the tournament a couple of minutes later to restore the U.S. lead.

There was a scary moment in the second period when U.S. defenceman Cole Hutson was struck in the back of the neck by a shot. He was stretchered off the ice and taken to a local hospital for evaluation.

Switzerland pushed hard for the equalizer in the third period, but the breakthrough never came. With the extra attacker on in the final minute, the Swiss rang a shot off the crossbar, coming inches away from tying the game. That was as close as they would get, as the United States shut the door and held on for its second win of the tournament.

Denmark opened tournament play widely expected to be the weakest team in Group B. Czechia was far from an ideal opening opponent, but Denmark managed to stay competitive for much of the game.

The teams traded goals in the opening six minutes. A dangerous hit later in the period led to Denmark forward Jesper Olesen being assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct. On the ensuing power play, Czechia scored to regain the lead. Denmark nearly tied the game as the power play expired when Andrew Bjergstad — who had been serving the penalty — broke in alone out of the box, but he was unable to beat the Czech goaltender.

Early in the second period, Czechia converted again on the power play to extend its lead to two. Denmark answered back a few minutes later to pull within one, but the response was short-lived. Czechia pulled away with two more goals in the period to take a 5-2 lead into the second intermission.

The third period belonged entirely to Czechia. Denmark generated a few chances, including a pair of breakaways, but couldn’t convert, hitting a post and being turned aside by several strong saves from the Czech netminder. Czechia added two more goals in the final frame to seal a 7-2 victory and record its first win of the tournament.

Czechia had seven different goal scorers, with Tomáš Galvas leading the way with three points.

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