The first two days of the 2025 World Junior Championships gave fans precisely what the tournament is supposed to give them: exciting games with results that vary from beatdowns to arguably the biggest upset in tournament history.

While there were only two games on the slate for the third day of the tournament, there were still storylines to follow, such as how Team Kazakhstan would fare against a strong Team Czechia after an 8-1 defeat to Team Sweden the day prior. And there was, of course, how the United States would play a Latvian team coming off the biggest win they have ever had at the World Juniors.

So, who were the standouts?

Team Czechia came out firing on all cylinders against Team Kazakhstan, who tried their best (and scored two goals in the process) but gave up 14 goals in the rout.

Three Czech players finished with hat tricks, and two Czechs finished with five points. However, one of those two stood above the rest: St. Louis Blues prospect Jakub Stancl.

Stancl scored two points in Team Czechia’s first game against Team Switzerland, but he took his performance to another level against Team Kazakhstan. The 19-year-old 2023 fourth-round pick is over a point per game in the WHL with the Kelowna Rockets, and he has been a staple for Czechia’s offense through two games. With Team Slovakia up next, he will need to be even better than in his previous two games.

While watching Team Czechia score goal after goal against Team Kazakhstan, the marquee matchup was the second of the day between Team USA and Team Latvia.

The two squads came in riding different kinds of highs. As mentioned, Latvia dispatched Team Canada in a shocking eight-round shootout victory—the biggest in program history. On Boxing Day, the Americans routed Team Germany with a 10-goal showing.

While the Latvians won due to their structure and special teams, the Americans have much more to show regarding individual talent. The Americans triumphed in a 5-1 final thanks to a couple of strong performances, including one from highly-touted prospect James Hagens.

Hagens did not register a goal, but his two assists were about as perfect as you can see from a prospect.

The first was to his Boston College linemate Ryan Loenard, who got a fortunate bounce to help the puck enter the net:

The second was to another incredibly impactful NCAA player, Denver University’s Zeev Buium, who is a member of the Minnesota Wild prospect pool.

These two assists helped add insurance for the Americans, who had to fend off a strong attack from Team Latvia, especially toward the end of the game.

While Hagens was the delivery man for Team USA against Team Latvia, Danny Nelson started the party and (effectively) ended it.

Nelson, a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, was drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft. And while he’s playing in the bottom six for this talented USA squad, he showed off what he can do by scoring two different, but both important, goals.

The 6-foot-3, 212-pound forward scored the game’s first goal for Team USA on a quick play from behind the net by other Islanders prospect Cole Eiserman.

He scored his first goal less than two minutes into the game, setting the tone for what was to come. He also scored the goal that was essentially the dagger, a beautiful backhand shot to the short side of Latvian goaltender Linards Feldbergs.

The Americans came out on top in what was a thrilling game (despite the final score), and Nelson was easily the best player on the ice every time he had a shift, deserving the first star of the day.