Canada Narrowly Beats Germany 3-0 For 2nd Win of 2025 WJC – The Hockey Writers World Junior Hockey Championship Latest News, Analysis & More

The 2025 World Junior Championship continued on Sunday for Team Canada as they faced off against Team Germany on Day 4 of the tournament. Coming off a disappointing and shocking 3-2 shootout loss to Latvia on Friday, they were looking to bounce back and earn their second victory. Germany, meanwhile, was looking for their first win after dropping games to Finland and the United States.

Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship

The game remained a tight 1-0 affair until Caden Price pushed Canada’s lead to 2-0 in the third and Mathieu Cataford finished it with an empty netter. They still didn’t flex their offensive muscles like most people expect in these tournaments against weaker opponents, but a win is a win. They will now face Team USA on New Year’s Eve in a battle for first in Group A, while Germany will look for their first win again against Latvia tomorrow.

Game Recap

Surprisingly, Canada has struggled to score in this tournament, potting only six goals coming into this game. They were able to score their seventh when Oliver Bonk one-timed his first on the power play from the bumper spot, but that’s all they would get in the first and through the second as Germany clogged the neutral zone and got in front of a lot of shots. By the end of the middle frame, Canada was only leading the shot clock 19-18 and the scoreboard 1-0. It was eerily similar to the Latvia game heading into the third period.

Fortunately, for Canada, the result was different than Friday as they controlled the third period, outshot the Germans 17-7, and increased their lead to 2-0 thanks to a carom off the boards. Price got credited with the goal as his shot bounced out front and deflected in off Nico Pertuch’s right pad. Canadian fans were on the edge of their seats with their team leading only 1-0 for most of the period, but thanks to Canada’s puck possession, Germany couldn’t find a goal to make it interesting. With the net empty, Cataford iced the game for a 3-0 win and Carter George’s second shutout of the tournament. He ended up stopping 25 shots while his counterpart at the other end was very solid, despite the loss, finishing with 34 saves on 36 shots.

Sign up for our NHL Prospects & Draft Substack newsletter