On Tap: Day 5 of 2025 World Junior Championship

Monday is the fifth day of the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is being held in Ottawa.

On Tap for Day 5

All games on NHL Network in U.S., TSN in Canada

Kazakhstan vs. Slovakia (1 p.m. ET) -- Slovakia (1-0-0-2) concludes its preliminary-round slate needing a win to finish no lower than third in Group B. Slovakia forward Miroslav Satan is questionable to play after he was checked into the glass in the third period of a 4-2 loss to Czechia on Sunday; Czechia forward Vojtech Cihar (2025 draft eligible) was given a game misconduct on the play. Dalibor Dvorsky (St. Louis Blues) has three points (two goals, one assist) in three games for Slovakia. The country last celebrated a World Juniors medal in 2015 in Montreal, winning bronze.

"We've done some good things but need to improve on other things," said Dvorsky, Slovakia's captain. "If we play our best hockey, we're a tough team to beat."

Kazakhstan (0-0-0-2) has been outscored 22-3, losing 8-1 to Sweden on Friday and 14-2 to Czechia on Saturday. Its game against Switzerland on Tuesday likely will determine its relegation-round fate. Goalie Vladimir Nikitin (Ottawa Senators) has been under siege much of the tournament, allowing 17 goals on 78 shots. The country returned to the top level of under-20 play after winning the 2024 WJC Division I Group A tournament last year. It is playing at the top level for the ninth time, and first since 2020.

Latvia vs. Germany (3:30 p.m. ET) -- Latvia (0-1-0-1) can secure a quarterfinal-round berth with a victory. The country upset Canada 3-2 in a shootout on Friday night and lost 5-1 to the United States on Saturday afternoon. Right wing Bruno Osmanis (5-foot-11, 170 pounds), a W-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's preliminary players to watch list for the 2025 NHL Draft, has two assists and is averaging 17:06 of ice time. Center Daniels Serkins (2025 draft eligible) has been a shot-blocking machine, averaging 16:12 of ice time. Goalie Linards Feldbergs (2025 draft eligible) has a .928 save percentage; he made 55 saves in the shootout win against Canada.

"If someone would have told us before the tournament that after two games we'd have two points, not many would believe it," Latvia coach Artis Abols said. "But we have two games left and [against Germany] we have a first chance to do more. I'm not expecting it will be easy for us.

"There's no easy games at all but at the same time, and we don't want to put any more pressure, but that's the game of games you have to win. We showed in the first game against Canada that anything can happen. You need the courage to play. You need to be ready, make good decisions, have good puck management, and definitely need the effort."

Germany (0-0-0-3) has lost its opening three games by a combined 16-5. It dropped a 3-0 decision to Canada on Sunday despite a valiant effort by German goalie Nico Pertuch (2025 draft eligible), who made 33 saves.

"I think if we play as good as we did against Canada, we can beat [Latvia]," Pertuch said. "We need to be focused from the back end out and then score some goals. We need to play good defensively. I think then we can beat them and get our ticket to the quarterfinals."