With just two days of action left in the preliminary round of the 2026 World Juniors, there is still a lot to be decided.
That starts with settling (or coming as close as possible to settling) which teams occupy the final knockout spots in each of the two groups.
While Switzerland and Latvia will earn second chances to earn their place in the knockouts, today will mark the last chance for Denmark and Germany to get ahead in the group standings and avoid a relegation-round matchup.
The action gets started at 1:00 PM CST as Switzerland plays Germany at the Grand Casino Arena. The second and final matchup of the day will take place at 3:30 PM CST when Latvia takes on Denmark at the 3M Arena.
Switzerland vs. Germany
Despite failing to score a point in the standings thus far, Switzerland has played some determined hockey.
Not only did they hold the hosts, the United States, to just two goals in their first game, but they also pushed Sweden to the brink by virtue of a 2-1 lead after two periods.
The one issue for Switzerland is that they have to find a way to put together a complete sixty-minute effort. Not only did the Swiss come one shot short of forcing the Americans into overtime in their opening game, but they also threw a 2-1 lead against Sweden away after delivering a strong first forty minutes.
Switzerland's game against fifth-place Germany might be the perfect opportunity for the Swiss to earn that sixty-minute effort and get back on track ahead of their preliminary-round finale against Slovakia. Despite boasting a sneaky attack, Germany has been unable to produce much in the way of defence, giving up eighteen goals over the course of their first three tournament games (six goals against vs the United States, four vs Slovakia, and eight vs Sweden).
In addition to potentially putting together a complete-game effort, Switzerland can guarantee their place in the knockouts if they beat Germany in any fashion.
Back to Germany, they'll need to put together their best effort if they are to have any chance at the knockouts. Germany's path into the knockouts requires either a regulation win over Switzerland (they would have the head-to-head tiebreaker even if Switzerland won their final game against Slovakia) or an overtime win over Switzerland and a loss by Switzerland to Slovakia.
Considering the stakes, I could see Germany controlling the early stages of the game, but Switzerland has also excelled at this point of the game. That said, whoever wins the first period (or the first thirty minutes if things are level after the first twenty) could end up winning the game.
As much as I would love to pick Germany to keep their knockout hopes alive, there isn't much information out there - performance and all - that will allow me to justify such a prediction. While Germany should keep this game as a competitive affair, Switzerland should win and secure its place in the knockout rounds.
The pick: Switzerland 4, Germany 2
Latvia vs. Denmark
Of the teams fighting relegation at this stage of the tournament, I think Denmark is under the most pressure to perform.
Out of the ten teams at the World Juniors, one can make the best argument for Denmark to be the least competitive entry.
As for Latvia's entry, they don't exactly have much more to brag about. They'll be entering this game off of the heels of a shellacking at the hands of Finland; an 8-0 scoreline doesn't do this game enough justice. And that's even when considering that Latvia entered that game off the heels of an impressive showing against Canada, one that saw Latvia force the Canadians into overtime for the second-consecutive meeting.
Even then, save for decent opening period performances, there isn't much to write home about this Danish team. And should Denmark lose in any fashion to Latvia, who enters this game a point ahead of Denmark and with a game in hand on the Danes, they will be guaranteed to play in the relegation round against the fifth-place team in Group A.
As long as Latvia can score some goals and their defence enjoys a bounce-back performance, this game will go in their favour.
The pick: Latvia 4, Denmark 1