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2025 IIHF World Junior Championship

USA Beats Latvia 5-1 At 2025 World Juniors: What We Learned

USA Beats Latvia 5-1 At 2025 World Juniors: What We Learned

Team USA's 5-1 win over Latvia puts them in the driver's seat for first place in the group. Chris Peters breaks down what we learned in this contest.

Dec 29, 2024 by Chris Peters
USA Beats Latvia 5-1 At 2025 World Juniors: What We Learned

OTTAWA – USA did what they needed to do in a 5-1 win over Latvia on Saturday at the World Junior Championship. Danny Nelson (NYI), James Hagens (2025) and Hampton Slukynsky (LAK) each played starring roles as USA took care of business against a Latvia squad that was fresh off one of the biggest upsets in World Junior Championship history less than 24 hours before.

Hagens had two points in the game, assisting on goals by Ryan Leonard (WSH) and Zeev Buium (MIN) at critical points in the game. Meanwhile, Slukynsky made 25 saves in the game, including in some tense moments and multiple Latvian power plays. 

Considering Latvia had just played a game last night that went into overtime and an eight-round shootout, along with the emotions that come with beating Canada for the first time, there was no signs of fatigue. Linards Feldbergs, who stopped 54 shots the night before, came right back and played again.

Now USA has a good chance to be first place in the group, but they'll have a critical game against Finland on Sunday before they can even think about their quarterfinal plans.

Here are some of the key takeaways from Saturday's win.

Team USA Scoring Summary

Goals by Danny Nelson (NYI) x2, Zeev Buium (MIN), Ryan Leonard (WSH), Max Plante (DET)

Key Stats From USA's Win Over Latvia

  • 2-for 3: USA's success rate on the power play.
  • 59.4%: USA's success rate on faceoffs in the game
  • 16: Shots on goal by Ryan Leonard through two games

James Hagens Is Owning The Moment

James Hagens had two points in the game, both assists and helped generate more chances. His vision and ability to execute plays is a major source of USA’s offense through two games. He now has six points through six periods of hockey and I still don’t know that we’ve seen him get to his top level, but he’s closing in on it.

What strikes me about how Hagens is playing in this tournament is the complete control he is showing. There’s very little that looks difficult to him right now. He’s winning pucks, he’s making plays and he’s around the puck an awful lot. When his line is on the ice, they’re controlling the pace of play.

The calming presence he is bringing to what can be a chaotic tournament is massively beneficial to his line and his team. The praise he is generating from teammates and the staff shows how much he really means to this team. He’s playing with confidence and as Hagens goes, it feels like USA is going with him.

There will be a tougher contest ahead against a Finnish team that has more scorers than Latvia, but it should be a fairly similar game. It puts the onus on Hagens to continue being the picture of consistency and reliability on offense.

Puck Management Improved, Still Needs Work

David Carle said he saw growth in his team in terms of their puck management, but there were still some signs where it has a bit further to go.

Team USA’s defense has some dynamic puck movers like Zeev Buium (MIN) and Cole Hutson (WSH), but beyond that USA’s blue liners have seemed to struggle a bit with the pace needed to make the decisions and then executing well.

USA’s third pairing of Colin Ralph (STL) and Aram Minnetian (DAL) had some issues with that early in the game, but improved. The same could be said for Logan Hensler (2025), who is still seeming to adjust to the World Junior quality that the opposition possses. Meanwhile, Adam Kleber (BUF) had a solid game in limited action aside from a penalty early on the contest.

We still haven’t seen Buium’s best game even though he was on the score sheet against Latvia and looked markedly better. Hutson has been one of the more reliable distributors on the back end, but they need to have all three pairings clicking on that front. 

The amount of ice time Buium, Fortescue and Hutson will have to play in the most critical games is going to make any subsequent game more challenging, unless USA can gain some more trust with the other guys in the group. Should USA reach the semifinal and final, those are on back to backs. The more those guys have to play because USA can’t really put out much of the rest of their defensemen, the worse off they’ll be in the games that matter most.

Goalie Controversy?

No. There’s no goalie controversy. Trey Augustine (DET) had a below-average game against Germany. It’s unlikely he’s going to have two games like that consecutively. He’s in his third World Juniors and the net is his.

That said, USA got Hampton Slukynsky (LAK) a look and got him his first taste of the World Juniors. He delivered a strong performance and made a lot of high-end saves in tough situations. He’s such a confident and composed goalie. Should anything happen to Augustine, they have a reliable backup.

Player Notes

Danny Nelson, C (NYI)

A two-goal game and some other chances, Nelson made a lot of plays in the game. What I thought he did especially well was get to the middle of the ice. Not a lot of players had an easy time doing that, but he made some plays there. Nelson has size, strength and he's also shown some improved skill in this tournament, too. He's not dynamic, but he can finish and he made the most of his looks today. His goal at the very end of the second period was a big one as it came with just five seconds remaining in the frame. it helped set the tone for USA heading into the third and gave them a little extra breathing room. He also won 10 of 16 faceoffs in the game.

Hampton Slukynsky, G (LAK)

The calm presence Slukynsky has in the net gives his team confidence. There were a few great looks by Latvia off of USA miscues and Slukynsky bailed his team out. That's more than you can ask for from your goalie in an event like this one. He made the saves he had to make and a few that were a lot tougher. He may not play much if at all the rest of the way, but it's helpful to the U.S. to know that they have an especially reliable backup who would probably be their starter in most other years.

Teddy Stiga, RW/LW (NSH)

After not playing in the opener, Stiga gave Team USA some good looks. He assisted on the fifth goal and took shifts on both the third and fourth lines. He provided energy and didn't make many, if any errors in the game. It was the right kind of response after sitting out the initial game. It now gives USA another option going forward. Stiga came in for Joey Willis (NSH) and I wonder if he'll stay in now.

Ryan Leonard, RW (WSH)

Leonard is USA's leader and he has been sending a lot of pucks to the net. He finally got a bounce to get his first of the tournament in the second period. His ability to be disruptive, on top of being such a lethal shooter makes him such a presence in the game. Leonard showed a lot of dangerous looks, played physical, got under the opponents' skin and kept backing down defenders. He's an impressive player and hasn't even gotten close to his top level yet.

Team USA World Junior Championship Schedule

Thurs., Dec. 26

Sat., Dec. 28

  • USA 5, Latvia 1

Sun., Dec. 29

  • USA vs. Finland, 2:30 p.m. ET

Tues., Dec. 31

  • USA vs. Canada, 8:00 p.m. ET

Thurs., Jan. 2

  • Quarterfinal & Relegation Games, Times TBD

Sat., Jan. 4

  • Semifinal Games, Times TBD

Sun., Jan. 5

  • Bronze Medal Game, Time TBD
  • Gold Medal Game, Time TBD

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