GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Veit Oswald scored twice, including the eventual winner, as Germany held off Finland for a 4-3 upset on Wednesday at the world junior hockey championship.
Oswald broke in on the net alone after Finnish defenceman Jesse Pulkkinen lost his edge on the ice and fell.
The German forward then snapped the puck past goalie Niklas Kokko with 5:22 left in the second period.
Roman Kechter and Niklas Hubner also scored and Philipp Dietl made 40 saves for Germany (1-0), which beat Finland for the first time at the world junior championship.
Finland had a 25-0 record with a 141-31 goal differential against the Germans dating back to the inaugural championship in 1977.
Tommi Mannisto, Kasper Halttunen and Samu Bau replied for Finland (0-2). Kokko stopped 24 shots in net.
The Finns outshot Germany 17-5 in the third period as they tried to tie the game.
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SLOVAKIA 3 SWITZERLAND 0
Adam Gajan stopped all 36 shots he faced as Slovakia blanked Switzerland.
Samuel Honzek staked Slovakia (2-0) to a 1-0 lead before Peter Repcik and Servac Petrovsky added empty-net goals in the last two minutes of play.
Allessio Beglieri stopped 17-of-18 shots for Switzerland (0-1).
Czechia faced Norway and Canada took on Latvia later Wednesday.
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CZECHIA 8 NORWAY 1
Jiri Kulich and Eduard Sale each had a hat trick as Czechia routed Norway.
Ales Cech and Matyas Sapovaliv had the other goals for Czechia (1-1).
Johannes Lokkeberg was the lone scorer for Norway (0-2).
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CANADA 10 LATVIA 0
Macklin Celebrini had a goal and four assists as Canada hammered Latvia.
Celebrini's five points were two short of the national record for a single game at the world juniors — a mark held by six players, including Connor Bedard at last year's tournament in Halifax.
Conor Geekie and Carson Rehkopf, with two each, Brayden Yager, Owen Allard, Fraser Minten, Matthew Wood and Matthew Poitras also scored for the Canadians (2-0)
Mathis Rousseau made 22 saves for the shutout.
Linards Feldbergs allowed seven goals on 31 shots for the overmatched Latvians (0-2). Aksels Ozols stopped seven of 10 shots in relief.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 27, 2023.
The Canadian Press
