2026 IIHF World Junior Championship – Preliminary Day 4 (Dec. 29, 2025)

By Breanna McNeill December 30, 2025

The fourth day of preliminary play at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship featured a full slate of action, highlighted by high-scoring games and decisive results that shaped the standings and set the stage for pivotal New Year’s Eve matchups across both groups. Here’s a look at everything that unfolded on Day 4.

Group B

Canada vs. Denmark

Final: 9 (CAN) – 1 (DEN)

Canada rolled to a dominant 9-1 win over Denmark, striking three times in the opening ten minutes and outshot the Danes 49-13. Combined with Czechia’s overtime victory over Finland earlier in the day, the result guarantees Canada will finish no worse than second in Group B.

The Canadians opened the scoring on the power play, as Gavin McKenna finished a cross-ice feed from Michael Hage. Five minutes later, another east-west passing play made it 2-0, this time with Tij Iginla setting up Braeden Cootes. Zayne Parekh (Saginaw Spirit) capped the first-period scoring after a Danish skater lost a blade and fell out of the play, creating an odd-man advantage.

Denmark briefly responded early in the second period, capitalizing on a Canadian turnover along the boards. The puck found Mads Klyvo, whose quick release beat Carter George (Owen Sound Attack) just 28 seconds in on Denmark’s second shot of the game.

Canada answered less than six minutes later and controlled the rest of the contest. Captain Porter Martone (Brampton Steelheads) ripped a power-play one-timer to make it 4-1, before McKenna added his second of the night, again off a one-timer.

In the third, Michael Misa (Saginaw Spirit) scored Canada’s sixth after a slick back pass from Martone behind the Danish net. Less than two minutes later, McKenna completed his hat trick with a highlight-reel deke. Brady Martin (Soo Greyhounds) recorded an assist on each of McKenna’s three goals.

Kashawn Aitcheson (Barrie Colts) made it 8-1 with a blistering shot off the crossbar for his first goal of the tournament, and Martone added his second just 24 seconds later to round out the scoring.

There’s a reason the @OHLBarrieColts’ Kashawn Aitcheson has 19 goals from the blue line this season! 🇨🇦#WorldJuniors | #Isles pic.twitter.com/b5wZ0n5TkQ

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) December 30, 2025

Canada closes out preliminary play on New Year’s Eve in a highly anticipated matchup against Finland, with first place in Group B on the line. The winner, whether in regulation, overtime, or a shootout, will claim top spot.

Denmark will now turn its attention to its final round-robin game against Latvia on Tuesday (4:30 p.m. EST). Latvia enters with one point from its overtime loss to Canada and can clinch a quarterfinal berth with a win or any overtime result. Denmark must win in regulation to advance; otherwise, the Danes will face the last-place team from Group A in the relegation game on January 2.

OHL Player Game Stats:

* denotes player who has not played an OHL game in the 2025-26 season

Canada

Porter Martone (Brampton Steelheads)* – 2G, 1A
Michael Misa (Saginaw Spirit)* – 1G, 2A
Brady Martin (Soo Greyhounds) – 3A
Zayne Parekh (Saginaw Spirit)* – 1G, 1A
Kashawn Aitcheson (Barrie Colts) – 1A, 1A
Sam O’Reilly (London Knights) – 1A
Cole Beaudoin (Barrie Colts) – 1A
Carter George (Owen Sound Attack) – 12 SVS

Czechia vs. Finland

Final/OT: 2 (CZE) – 1 (FIN)

Czechia earned an exciting 2-1 overtime victory over Finland. Both teams now have a day off before closing out the round-robin on Wednesday. Czechia will face Latvia in the afternoon (3:30 pm EST), followed by a highly anticipated Finland-Canada matchup (8:30 pm EST).

The game’s opening moments set the tone early, as Finland’s Veeti Vaisanen was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for cross-checking just over a minute into play, sending the Finns to an extended penalty kill.

Czechia capitalized quickly, needing only 46 seconds on the ensuing power play to open the scoring. Matej Kubisa snapped a shot past goaltender Petteri Rimpinen to give the Czechs an early lead.

From there, both teams locked things down defensively, with goaltending and structure keeping the score unchanged until the final moments of regulation. With Rimpinen pulled for the extra attacker, Leo Tuutava worked a loose puck from behind the net and found Emil Hemming (Barrie Colts) in front, who fired a quick snap shot to tie the game with just 19.3 seconds remaining.

After a back-and-forth start to overtime, Adam Jiricek (Brantford Bulldogs) sealed the win at 3:39 with a between-the-legs finish.

ADAM JIRICEK GOES BETWEEN HIS LEGS FOR THE OVERTIME WINNER 😱🚨

CZECHIA WINS A THRILLER IN STYLE 🇨🇿 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/s7mH67VwQR

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 29, 2025

OHL Player Game Stats:

Czechia

Adam Jiricek (Brantford Bulldogs) – 1G

Finland

Emil Hemming (Barrie Colts) – 1G

Group A

United States vs. Slovakia

Final: 6 (USA) – 5 (SVK)

In a back-and-forth thriller, the United States edged Slovakia 6-5 on Monday night, clawing back into the game on three separate occasions to set up a New Year’s Eve showdown with Sweden (6:00 p.m. EST) for first place in Group A.

Slovakia came out flying, striking twice in quick succession in the opening period. Goals from Tobias Tomik and Tomas Chrenko sent the Slovaks into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.

The Americans responded with a shorthanded goal as A.J. Spellacy (Windsor Spitfires) finished a 2-on-1 with a one-handed deflection. Adam Belusko restored Slovakia’s two-goal cushion with a shorthanded marker of his own. Brendan McMorrow answered less than two minutes later, jumping on a loose puck near the crease on a broken play and lifting it home.

AJ SPELLACY LIFTS THE ARENA TO ITS FEET! 🇺🇸

That saucer pass from Brendan McMorrow 🤩 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/8HTuK7A3da

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) December 30, 2025

Just past the midway point of the second period, the U.S. appeared to have tied the game on the power play, but goaltender Michal Pradel managed to smother a rolling puck on the goal line with help from his defence. Shortly after, there was no doubt as Ryker Lee wired a short-side shot to tie the game at three.

Slovakia once again pulled ahead on the power play, with Michal Svrcek backhanding in a loose puck during a goalmouth scramble. However, James Hagens closed out the high-scoring period by snapping a shot from the high slot in the final minute, knotting the game once more.

Carrying that momentum into the third, Hagens gave the Americans their first lead of the night just 18 seconds in, scoring his second goal of the game. Chase Reid (Soo Greyhounds) recorded assists on both of Hagens’ tallies.

Will Zellers extended the lead to 6-4 with a power-play goal later in the period. Slovakia pulled goaltender Pradel for the extra attacker and drew within one on Chrenko’s second of the game, but could not complete the comeback.

U.S. starter Caleb Heil outdueled Pradel as the Americans finished with a 41-31 edge in shots.

Slovakia will look for its first win on New Year’s Eve against fellow winless Switzerland (1:00 p.m. EST).

OHL Player Game Stats:

United States

A.J. Spellacy (Windsor Spitfires) – 1G, 1A
Chase Reid (Soo Greyhounds) – 2A

Sweden vs. Germany

Final: 8 (SWE) – 1 (GER)

Three players – Jack Berglund, Viggo Bjorck, and Anton Frondell, the third overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft – scored twice each as Sweden cruised to a dominant 8-1 victory over Germany in Monday’s early Group A matchup. The win keeps the Swedes perfect at 3-0 at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, continuing their strong tradition of preliminary-round success.

🇸🇪 @trekronorse strikes first on the power play! #WorldJuniors #IIHF pic.twitter.com/l7JutBfySe

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 29, 2025

Special teams played a decisive role, as Sweden’s power play converted four times while outshooting Germany 44-17.

Swedish netminder Herman Liv stopped 16 shots to earn the win in his World Junior debut. On the other end, Germany’s Linus Vieillard was pulled after allowing five goals through two periods, with Lukas Stuhrmann taking over in relief.

Elias Pul scored Germany’s lone goal on the team’s first shot of the game, but it proved to be their only offensive breakthrough.

Felix Ohrqvist and Liam Danielsson were the other goal scorers for Sweden.

Sweden will now enjoy two days off before a New Year’s Eve showdown against the host United States (6:00 pm EST), while Germany faces a must-win contest against fellow winless Switzerland on Tuesday (2:00 pm EST).

Standings After Day 4

Day 4 standings are in! 👀 #WorldJuniors #IIHF pic.twitter.com/faPWCyinya

— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) December 30, 2025

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As the official Canadian broadcast partners of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, TSN and RDS will carry all of Team Canada’s games, along with select international matchups. Fans are encouraged to check local listings for full broadcast details.

For more information on the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, please visit iihf.com or follow on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.