USA 2-0 at world junior hockey championship: What to know

The defending champion United States improved to 2-0 at the world junior hockey championship Saturday by beating Latvia, which had shocked Canada the day before.

Latvia went back with goalie Linards Feldbergs, who made 56 saves in a 3-2 shootout win against host Canada on Friday.

But Notre Dame’s Danny Nelson scored less than two minutes into the game and the United States eventually broke open a close game to win 5-1.

The Americans, who were unbeaten during last year’s gold-medal run, will face Finland (1-1) on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network).

The United States brought back 10 players and coach David Carle to this year’s tournament, which features the world’s best under-20 players, including drafted and draft-eligible NHL prospects.

Here’s what to know about the Dec. 26-Jan. 5 world junior championships:

How can I watch the world junior championships?

The games will be aired on NHL Network in the United States and on TSN in Canada.

Team USA world junior championships results, schedule

Dec. 26: United States 10, Germany 4. James Hagens had two goals and two assists and Cole Hutson had five assists. Hagens opened the scoring in the first period and put the USA back ahead by two goals after Germany had pulled to within 3-2 in the second period. The USA outshot Germany 56-22.

Dec. 28: United States 5, Latvia 1. Danny Nelson scored two goals, including 1:58 into the first period. The USA got goals from Ryan Leonard, Zeev Buium and Nelson in the second period to pull away. James Hagens continued his strong start to the tournament with two assists and Max Plante scored the fifth U.S. goal. Latvia’s Daniels Serkins drew cheers after blocking three Cole Eiserman shots on a U.S. power play.

Dec. 29: Finland vs. United States, 2:30, NHLN, TSN4

Dec. 31: United States vs. Canada, 8, NHLN, TSN

World junior championships Team USA roster

The 25-player U.S. team (14 forwards, eight defenseman and three goaltenders) features six NHL first-round picks, eight second-round picks and eight others drafted in other rounds. Twenty-two of the players are on college hockey teams.

Goaltenders

Number, player, team

*-played on last year’s team

1 Trey Augustine, Michigan State*

30 Hampton Slukynsky, Western Michigan

31 Sam Hillebrandt, Barrie Colts*

Defensemen

Number, player, team

3 Logan Hensler, Wisconsin

4 Colin Ralph, St. Cloud State

5 Drew Fortescue, Boston College*

6 Adam Kleber, Minnesota Duluth

14 Aram Minnetian, Boston College*

16 Paul Fischer, Notre Dame

24 Cole Hutson, Boston University

28 Zeev Buium, University of Denver*

Forwards

Number, player, team

2 Teddy Stiga, Boston College

8 Brandon Svoboda, Boston University

9 Ryan Leonard, Boston College*

10 Carey Terrance, Erie Otters*

11 Oliver Moore, University of Minnesota*

12 James Hagens, Boston College

17 Danny Nelson, Notre Dame*

19 Trevor Connelly, Providence College

20 Joey Willis, Saginaw Spirit

22 Max Plante, Minnesota Duluth

23 Austin Burnevik, St. Cloud State

34 Gabe Perreault, Boston College*

74 Brodie Ziemer, University of Minnesota

91 Cole Eiserman, Boston University

2025 draft eligible players to watch

Team USA’s James Hagens was listed among Central Scouting’s early season top prospects to watch and could go No. 1 overall in the 2025 NHL draft. He has 20 points in 16 Boston College games and is playing at this tournament with college linemates Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault.

Other A-rated skaters at this tournament include USA defenseman Logan Hensler, Canada forward Porter Martone and Canada defenseman Matthew Schaefer. Schaefer will miss the rest of the tournament after crashing into the net during his team’s loss to Latvia.

Forward Victor Eklund, brother of the San Jose Sharks’ William Eklund, is playing for Sweden.

World junior championships schedule, scores

The USA is in Group A with Canada, Finland, Germany and Latvia. Group B features Czechia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland.

All times p.m. ET

Dec. 26

• Sweden 5, Slovakia 2
• United States 10, Germany 4
• Czechia 5, Switzerland 1
• Canada 4, Finland 0

Dec. 27

• Slovakia 2, Switzerland 1
• Finland 3, Germany 1
• Sweden 8, Kazakhstan 1
• Latvia 3, Canada 2 (SO)

Dec. 28

• Czechia 14, Kazakhstan 2
• United States 5, Latvia 1

Dec. 29

• Sweden vs. Switzerland, noon, NHLN, TSN
• Finland vs. United States, 2:30, NHLN, TSN4
• Slovakia vs. Czechia, 5 ET, NHLN, TSN
• Germany vs. Canada, 7:30, NHLN, TSN

Dec. 30

• Kazakhstan vs. Slovakia, 1 ET, NHLN, TSN
• Latvia vs. Germany, 3:30, NHLN, TSN

Dec. 31

• Switzerland vs. Kazakhstan, noon, NHLN, TSN
• Latvia vs. Finland, 2:30, TSN4. NHLN will air at 3:30 on Jan. 1
• Czechia vs. Sweden, 5, NHLN, TSN
• United States vs. Canada, 8, NHLN, TSN

Jan. 2

• Quarterfinal 1, noon, NHLN, TSN
• Quarterfinal 2, 2:30, NHLN, TSN3, TSN4, TSN5
• Quarterfinal 3, 5, NHLN, TSN
• Quarterfinal 4, 7:30, NHLN, TSN

Jan. 4

• Semifinal 1 3:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN
• Semifinal 2 7:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, TSN

Jan. 5

• Third-place game, 3:30, NHLN, TSN
• Championship game, 7:30, NHLN, TSN

This story has been updated to add new information.