GOTHENBURG, Sweden – The U.S. will battle Latvia today in the quarterfinals of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, with opening faceoff set for 5 p.m. local/11 a.m. ET. The game can be seen live on NHL Network.
The winner advances to Thursday’s (Jan. 4) semifinals.
Team USA won Group B, earning victories in each of its four preliminary round contests, including a 10-2 triumph over Slovakia in its last outing on Sunday (Dec. 31).
Latvia finished fourth in Group A with one win, that in its final preliminary round game against Germany.
WHAT TO KNOW
“We’ve continued to grow as a group -- from this summer, to our camp in December prior to the tournament, and through the preliminary round,” said David Carle, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. “Our guys are focused on the mission at hand and we know we’ll be facing a very good Latvian team in the quarterfinals.”